On Sunday 12 July 2015, the sixteenth edition of the 1000 km event HESPER will take place, to raise money for Handicap International.
The course will start from the Nicolas Braun centre, next to the Town Hall, with participants free to choose a time, between 8:00 and 12:00, that they would like to start it. The aim is to reach a minimum of a thousand kilometres, based on the total of all distances run added together.
The organisers of the event, the 'Latreff Hesper' Committee and Hesperange Commune, selected the NGO Handicap International as this year's beneficiary, with all proceeds raised from the charity run going towards the victims of Nepal's earthquake which took place earlier this year.
Every year it is with the same enthusiasm and motivation that runners - athletes and amateurs alike - participate in the summer sporting event, in support of a designated charity. This year, the profits earned from registration fees will all be donated to Handicap International's humanitarian action in Nepal.
"Initiatives like those of Laftreff Hesper and the Hesperange commune are essential in a humanitarian emergency such as this, to provide relief to the Nepalese people but also for us to be able to deploy actions in the future," explained Anthony Jacopucci, Fundraising Officer at Handicap International Luxembourg.
Having been present onsite since the very beginning of the two disasters in Nepal, the Handicap International teams have been able to help hundreds of people, with the run representing the second charity sporting event organised by the association over the summer period. Handicap International has stated the funds will be utilised to increase its distribution of emergency kits to help the Nepalese population prepare for a monsoon, as well as establish teams on the ground who would be able to follow wounded people who leave hospital to return home, and capable of identifying people who have not yet been reunited with their family and/or require rehabilitative care or psychosocial support.
The 2014 race saw 592 participants run 7410 km to raise €6000 for the NGO - big running shoes to fill. However, the 2005 record of 8,850 km has still yet to be beaten.
Handicap International have also announced that they will be installing a small Pyramid of Shoes at the running course, where the public is invited to leave used shoes as a sign of solidarity with the victims of mine explosions, cluster bombs and explosive remnants of war (ERW).
Registration costs €5 for adults and €3 for children on the day, but added donations are also welcome.
Photo by Handicap International (Runners at kast year's HESPER run)
