Running With Purpose: How Team Ukraine Turned Kilometres into Hope at Hobart Marathon Festival 2025
The Ukraine Support Fund would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our generous donor community for supporting the fundraising campaign held in association with the Hobart Marathon Festival 2025. Your encouragement and generosity were felt every step of the way by our volunteer runners—and will be felt even more profoundly by injured servicemen and women in Ukraine, who will benefit from the bone fixation devices made possible through this campaign.
Thanks to your support, this marked a stellar first marathon festival fundraising campaign for 2025 💪🏻. We’re proud of the momentum we’ve built and look forward to carrying it forward throughout the year.
A Marathon, a Vyshyvanka, and a Powerful Message
One of the most moving moments of the day came from Natalia Pastushenko, our USF CEO, who completed her first-ever full marathon—42.2 kilometres—in Hobart wearing a 100-year-old handmade Ukrainian blouse, known as a vyshyvanka.
The vyshyvanka is far more than clothing. It is a symbol of heritage, resilience and protection. In Ukraine, these embroidered shirts have been hidden during times of persecution, treasured during peace, and even traded for food during famine. Passed down through generations, each one carries deep personal and cultural meaning.
Natalia wore hers with pride as she ran to raise funds for injured Ukrainians, reminding us all that every step can carry purpose.
Team Ukraine: Seven Runners, One Mission
We are incredibly proud to celebrate Team Ukraine—a group of seven inspiring runners who turned their kilometres into a mission of hope. Their goal was simple and powerful: to use their strong, healthy legs to help injured Ukrainians keep theirs.
With the support of 171 amazing donors, Team Ukraine raised an extraordinary $11,674 for the Ukraine Support Fund. This funding will allow us to supply bone fixation devices to frontline hospitals in Ukraine—potentially saving up to 130 limbs from amputation.
It was a powerful and emotional day for everyone involved, and a reminder of the incredible good that can come from people running with purpose.
From all of us at the Ukraine Support Fund—and alongside the Hobart Airport Marathon Festival—congratulations, Team Ukraine, and thank you to everyone who donated. Your impact will be felt far beyond the finish line. 💙💛
