My acquaintance with Ukrainian races for 10 kilometers continues and for this choice, I decided to stop at the next race, which took place on the territory of the museum. And this time I finally decided to run the race "Escape from Mezhyhirya", which takes place on the territory of the former residence of the "fugitive G1", and now there is a museum of Ukrainian corruption "Mezhyhirya" and as my previous museum races (Pyrogiv Trail Run, Pyramids Half Marathon and Race in Pirogov), the race really brought a lot of good impressions of the nature of the museum and irritation from the decoration of the residence itself.
Mezhyhirya is the former private residence of Ukraine’s fourth fugitive president in the village of Novi Petrivtsi, Vyshhorod district, Kyiv region, which he occupied from 2002 to 2014. From 1935 to 2007, Mezhyhirya was the state government residence until it was taken into private ownership. The 140-hectare Mezhyhirya complex is surrounded by a five-meter fence with a perimeter length of 54 kilometers. On its territory, there is a marina, equestrian club, shooting range, tennis court and other entertainment and tourist complexes, as well as hunting grounds. Journalists and politicians call Mezhyhirya a symbol of presidential corruption and a "museum of corruption." On the morning of February 22, 2014, the residence of Mezhyhirya was opened to the press due to the fact that the fugitive president left Kyiv and the country and fled to Muscovy with the loot.
You can register for the race "Escape from Mezhyhirya" through the site athletic-events.com, where participants can choose one of two distances, namely 10 or 5 kilometers.
The route for a distance of 10 kilometers consists of two laps of 5 kilometers each. The road surface is asphalt and mostly flat (small descent - at the beginning and a small ascent at the end of each circle). Starter packs were issued on the day of the race in front of the museum.
This time we didn't have to go far, because the race took place not far from Kyiv, namely in the village of Novi Petrivtsi, where the museum of Ukrainian corruption is located. To make it easier for the participants of the race to get to the starting place of the race "Escape from Mezhyhirya", the organizers took care of the transfer for the participants from the Minsk metro to the residence and back.
Arriving at the starting town, which greeted the participants of the race in the fog and taking his starting package and to pass the time left before the start, he decided to take a walk around the museum. What can I say, as if I were in a palace of the XV-XIX centuries, I would probably be delighted with the decoration, but I was in a complex built in the XXI century and walking through it could not understand why to decorate the fence with gold. I used to feel this irritation at the beginning of the year during my second trip to Cairo when I decided not to stay in hostels (I met hostels on my first trip), but in a five-star hotel. And coming out of it on the waterfront and looking at the other bank of the Nile, it was clear that just the most interesting is among the local slums, where there was freedom, and not among the elegantly decorated hotel complex with armed guards.
But there were also pleasant moments in the walk, namely the local nature and fauna, which brought only positive impressions from the admiration of local swans, ducks, and other animals left after the escape of the "runaway G1" to Muscovy.
The most interesting thing started on Sunday at 12 hours and 15 minutes, when the race "Escape from Mezhyhirya" started, and at the same time the next running adventures began, which this time consisted of two laps of 5 kilometers each and passed along the asphalt embankment. and the surrounding museum areas.
Before the race "Escape from Mezhyhirya" he took part in the marathon in Larnaca and accordingly did not have time to recover after it and felt tired, so going to the race he planned not to hurry and just still stretch his legs. But that's what I thought until I got to the start.
The race started quite briskly, although at the first kilometers I still felt tired. The first round passed fairly quickly and was overcome in 25 minutes. As for the second lap, sometimes I wanted to run slower, but the support from volunteers and fans did their job, so 49 minutes after the start I managed to cross the finish line, where I was already waiting for a delicious porridge.
The "Escape from Mezhyhirya" race left behind some positive emotions, first of all, from the excellent organization and interesting route of the race. Therefore, the distance was overcome quite easily.
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