Five and a Half Times Around the Earth for Vuk

If we joined every kilometre the KTJ community ran in September into one unbroken track, it would circle the Earth almost five and a half times. Those 220,000 kilometres would hold laps around familiar neighbourhoods, stretches of favourite running routes, training sessions logged while travelling and kilometres from races, adding up to a distance that is hard to picture while we only follow our latest run on our watch.

From 1 to 30 September, exactly one thousand runners, split into 40 teams with 40 captains, took part in the “Ko te juri?” (“Who's chasing you?”) challenge, collecting kilometres and donations for Vuk Arapović. Everyone ran within their own everyday life and their own limits, while activities from many different places added up to a shared result that, according to the organisers, had been linked to two million dinars of support by 2 October. The running table for this edition closed at the end of September, but kilometres can still be bought throughout October, leaving room for new donors and companies to join the effort that has already been made.

01Who Vuk is

Vuk Arapović was born in Belgrade on 26 June 2019, prematurely, in the 28th week of pregnancy, and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. According to the Budi human foundation, he needs continuous therapy to keep progressing, and funds are being raised for his treatment, rehabilitation, check-ups, aids and related costs. When support is needed over a long period, every new campaign can help the family keep his treatment going, which is why the value of the September kilometres grows with every person who decides to donate.

02How training turns into help

KTJ connects that need with something that is already an important part of many participants' lives, adding to regular training the chance to encourage others to help. Before the challenge starts, participants make a donation for the child the edition is dedicated to; during the month they log their activities on Strava, and their kilometres go into the shared team count. People and companies who want to support the campaign join in by symbolically buying kilometres and making extra donations, so a training run can become the start of a much wider circle of support.

This link between running and giving is especially interesting because it offers each participant several ways to contribute: a donation, their own kilometres, talking about the campaign and inviting others to join. A shared activity can lead someone to Vuk's story, a conversation with a friend can prompt a new donation, and a post seen by someone at a company can open the door to buying more kilometres. The money comes from donors' decisions, while the runners' commitment creates the reason for those decisions to happen and for the call for help to travel further.

03Runners from across the region

This September, most participants came from Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, followed by Croatia and Slovenia, with runners from other European countries and other continents too. Taking part together did not require everyone to be in the same city or on the same start line, so the challenge could fit different schedules, places and ways of training. For someone with an established routine, it is a chance to connect their existing training with a charity campaign; for someone just starting out, a team can offer an extra reason to stay consistent and find their place in the running community.

04From a hundred to a thousand runners

We wrote about the beginnings of this idea and about Sanja Mitić, who started KTJ, in an earlier story on Running Letters, following how a circle of friends gradually grew into an organised community. In January 2023 the challenge brought together around a hundred runners, so this year's thousand participants show how many people have since recognised the value of connecting in this way. With every new edition, both the responsibility and the need to back the enthusiasm with a system grew: one that can track activities, keep communication going and preserve the participants' trust.

According to Sanja, the hardest part at the start was explaining the idea to athletes and showing them how the challenge works, whereas today interest exceeds what the organisation can handle. At least a hundred people who want to take part are left “below the line” because of limited capacity, which shows how appealing the idea is, but also how much work it takes to include every registered participant properly. When we asked her what she would change if she were starting KTJ from scratch, she joked about how much work lies behind it all, then explained why she believes gradual growth mattered:

“It all had to happen exactly this way: start with 100 participants, build strong foundations, earn the trust of participants and supporters, and set up a system that can now run like a small company.”

05The people behind the challenge

Fifty-six people worked on the September edition, including the project lead, coordinators, supervisors, controllers, captains and the Serbia Run team responsible for counting the kilometres. Their work covers much more than publishing results, because a community of this size needs information passed on, activities recorded correctly and problems solved while the challenge is running. A particularly demanding part comes before the running even starts, when every participant has to authorise the connection between their Strava account and the system so that their kilometres can be counted.

Sanja says that around a hundred people need extra help with this step, whether because of a message they missed, a link they did not open or technical issues with their account. Details like these easily fade into the background in a final announcement, even though they decide whether individual effort finds its place in the shared result. Alongside thousands of training sessions, it is worth picturing the hours of work by people who answered questions, reminded participants and checked data, giving their time to the same goal that others supported by running.

Among the participants whose results stayed with Sanja is Nikola Gligorević, who, according to the data provided, logged 1,125 kilometres in September at the age of 17. We will write more about him in a future edition.

Alongside such striking individual results, the experiences of people who used KTJ to build their first regular training habits, or discovered how much belonging to a team means to them, deserve space too. Throughout September the organisers stressed that beginners can also take part, with their kilometres added to those of more experienced runners, as they explained in an RTV report about the campaign for Vuk. This format gives value to contributions of every size and lets people take part according to their experience, fitness and the time they have.

That kind of experience is an important part of the story of what running can set in motion, because the value of the challenge can live on through the habits participants keep and the relationships they build. Regular physical activity can improve physical health, mood, sleep and overall wellbeing, as the World Health Organization also points out, while taking part in a shared campaign offers an extra chance to meet people and feel a sense of belonging. Through KTJ, looking after your own body connects with looking after someone else, so the time set aside for training can carry meaning long after the activity is saved on your watch.

06September's results

The competitive side of the challenge also produced results worth recording, especially given the effort of teams who added up their contributions throughout the month. According to the final figures provided by the organisers, the most kilometres were collected by Pejs i po from Sarajevo, ahead of Pekitrus from Novi Sad and PEK Gora from Kragujevac. In the men's ranking, the top three places went to Nikola Gligorević, Nemanja Milošević and Nikola Milošević. Among the women, the most kilometres were logged by Aleksandra Duraković, Jasmina Kljajić and Žudana Đokić, whose results, together with everyone else's activities, are part of the total September distance dedicated to Vuk.

Financial support started even before the first training run of the challenge: entry fees raised 1.5 million dinars, and the organisers say that another 450,000 dinars had come in through kilometre purchases by 2 October. They put the total linked to the September campaign at two million dinars, with fundraising continuing through October and further appeals to companies. That is why we are publishing this story now, while the runners' result can still gain extra value through the support of people who want to join in now that all the kilometres have been counted.

07How you can help

To help Vuk directly from Serbia, you can send an SMS with the text 1154 to 3030; the foundation says that one message is a donation of 200 dinars. Options for paying by card, PayPal, or to a dinar or foreign-currency account are available on Vuk's page on the Budi human foundation website, which donors from abroad can also use. Individuals and companies interested in buying kilometres can contact the organisers for information on how to support the campaign and how the donation is recorded as part of the challenge.

Sharing the story can also widen the circle of support, especially when we pass on what drew us to the idea and why we think it deserves attention. Among the people a post reaches might be someone who hears about Vuk for the first time, someone who will forward the appeal to their company, or a future participant for whom this very example makes it feel possible to give back to the community through running. In this way the September campaign can keep connecting people even after this edition's distance has stopped changing.

For those already thinking about taking part next year, the time until the next call can be a chance to gradually build a routine that suits them and get to know the community they want to join. They can prepare their contribution with training adapted to their own abilities, while following the organisers' announcements and news about the next edition.

08The kilometres that stay

When we think about a distance long enough to go around the Earth almost five and a half times, it is easy to dwell on the size of the number, yet the most interesting part is trying to imagine how many different people and everyday lives fit inside it. A thousand participants found a way to connect their training with Vuk's need for support, and through October's donations, people who were not part of the running month can join the campaign too. In the next edition, your training can also go into the shared distance, and already now, by donating or sharing the appeal, you can help this community's effort bring in more funds for Vuk's continued treatment.

Huge thanks go to Sanja, the whole organising team, the captains and the Serbia Run crew, whose time, patience and work made it possible for a thousand runners to come together around one goal. Thank you to every participant, donor and everyone who shared the call for help, because it was their combined contributions that allowed the September kilometres to bring support to Vuk and his family.

Vuk, we wish you lots of joy, play and lovely moments with the people who love you, along with the therapy and support you need for every step of your progress, and we wish your family that this community's help makes everyday life and your continued treatment a little easier.

The end