UNICEF Heroes Day a huge success

More than 100,000 euros was raised from the UNICEF Heroes Day, which was staged in conjunction with Athletics for a Better World, the IAAF’s social responsibility programme, to raise funds for UNICEF's worldwide vaccination campaign: 'Objective 100%: Vaccinate Each Child' on Sunday (19).

More than 5500 runners from 36 countries took part in what was being called the world’s first connected race, runners were able to join in simply by connecting to a GPS watch, or a compatible running app.  

Backed by IAAF World Athlete of the Year Renaud Lavillenie and Olympic biathlon champion Martin Fourcade, participants were challenged to run a distance of at least 10km – which could be done at any time and at any place on that day.

To put that into perspective, UNICEF Heroes Day participants circled the globe six times collectively.

The IAAF’s landmark social responsibility programme Athletics for a Better World sponsored 1980 participants on Sunday.

UNICEF has pledged that by 2017, every child in the world will be vaccinated from killer diseases such as polio and tuberculosis.

The funds raised from UNICEF World Heroes Day will ensure that more than 22,000 children around the globe will be vaccinated.

IAAF