Tens of thousands join races throughout Poland to celebrate independence

Runners throughout Poland, many dressed in white and red national colours and bearing Polish flags, took advantage of the fine weather yesterday to take part in races marking the country’s Independence Day.

Such events have become an annual tradition in Poland, though most were cancelled last year due to the pandemic. At least 80 runs took place around the country yesterday, which was a public holiday, and the days leading up to it, according to Maratonypolskie.pl, a running website.

Between a few hundred and several thousand people took part in each of them – many covering the classic 5 and 10 kilometres, and others a symbolic 11 km to represent the date – 11 November – on which Poland regained its independence in 1918.

“It was a great event – beautiful weather, a positive atmosphere, with kids on the route holding flags and giving high fives, and lovely views,” one participant of a run from Skawina to Mogilany, near Kraków, told Notes from Poland

“Patriotism clearly means different things to different people, but for runners like me this is an essential part of the day,” he added.

Many prominent figures from the world of entertainment and politics have participated in such races over the years. At Warsaw’s Independence Day 10km race in 2013, Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister at the time and a keen runner, joined 11,000 others in the capital’s streets.

In 2018 – which was the centenary of Poland regaining independence – a special cross-country relay, from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Tatra Mountains in the south, was held. In Poznań, 25,000 runners took part in the country’s biggest race ever.

Poznań was also the site of one of Poland’s largest races this year, with more than 4,000 participants, reports Gazeta Wyborcza. And there was a dramatic ending there in the women’s race, where Paulina Kaczyńska won in a sprint finish after her rival Monika Jackiewicz tripped on the carpet metres from the tape.

Although some participants were keen to improve their own personal bests, others were content to express their patriotism. The Polish national anthem was played before the start at many events, runners wore red or white race T-shirts, and participants and spectators hoisted Polish flags.

Those who would still like to run, jog or walk with a Polish flag this year still have one last opportunity. At parkrun, a global organisation offering free weekly timed 5km events, some of Poland’s 80 locations celebrated Independence Day last Saturday, but others will do so tomorrow.

Main image credit: Flickr/Ministry of Foreign Affairs (under CC BY-NC 2.0)

Ben Koschalka

Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.