ViaRunning charity run: Running for education in Brazil and Africa!

ViaRunning charity run: Running for education in Brazil and Africa!

On April 23, 2025, the European University Viadrina will announce the upcoming ViaRunning fundraising run, which begins on Wednesday, May 7, at 6:15 p.m. The event takes place on the bridge to Ziegenwerder behind the Gräfin Dönhoff building, where participants are expected on the cafeteria terrace. The route runs over four kilometers, with runners completing two laps on the picturesque island of Ziegenwerder.

Participation in the fundraiser is free, but a donation is requested. The money collected supports Passo Fundo e. V., an organization that supports socially needy prospective students from Brazil, Kenya and Malawi. These events are led by Prof. Dr. Georg Stadtmann, who initiated the run and whose organization is completely taken over by Viadrina students. European University Viadrina reports that participants have the opportunity to register on site or online until the day of the event.

Past successes and participants

The last ViaRunning race took place on May 16, 2018 and brought together over 100 runners. A female professor, two professors and numerous running enthusiasts from the region took part on this day. The route was again 4km long and the fastest runner was Maximilian Günther, an International Business Administration (IBA) student, who completed the route in an impressive 13 minutes and 29 seconds. He was followed by Christoph Guhl and Tom Ziegenbein, who took second and third place.

The fastest runner was Sevde Catik, also an IBA student, who completed the lap in 16 minutes and 29 seconds. Teams from the Central Student Advisory Service (ZSB) and the university group Amnesty International were also represented in the run. The ZSB team, led by Dr. Linda Giesel, was marked with yellow helium balloons, while members of the Amnesty International group wore T-shirts with slogans from the Declaration of Human Rights. This group participated by deliberately walking slowly and expressing that their participation was for a good cause. All proceeds from the entry fees went to the Brazilian aid organization Passo Fundo e. V., which supports socially disadvantaged students. European University Viadrina Archive provides further details on this previous event.

Community spirit and goals

The ViaRunning run is not only a sporting challenge, but also an opportunity for students and the community to support each other. The combination of sporting activity and commitment to a good cause makes this event a special event in the university calendar. Organizers hope that many participants will come together to show both sporting competition and solidarity.