Charity Runners collect more than 10k for scholarships in Rotterdam Marathon

To celebrate Erasmus University’s 105th anniversary, the Erasmus Charity Run encouraged participants to give their best efforts in raising money for the Erasmus Scholarship Fund. The run is an official part of the NN Marathon Rotterdam, with charity runners recognizable amidst the crowd in their bright green Erasmus Charity Run sports t-shirts.

Students, staff and alumni alike all came together to run either the quarter or full marathon for a good cause. Before the run, the Rector spoke to the runners and said he woke up this morning, felt a different kind of energy and appreciated everyone coming out to run. He ended by saying “Change is about community. Friends, faculty, alumni and staff- we’re all doing this together”.

Continued success

Gerda de Rave, an employee at Erasmus University, participated in the Erasmus Charity Run last year and raised the recorded highest amount of money for the scholarship fund. This year, she’s raised 106% of her goal, with a whopping €530 through sponsorships by her colleagues the Erasmus School of Economics and friends. Besides the Erasmus Charity Run, Her motivation for this run was summed up with a simple belief: “It’s important that everyone should be able to learn, whether their parents are rich or poor”.

Another seasoned runner is Vizaddo Anindra, a third year IBA student. For the past two years, his goal has been to finish the quarter marathon in under an hour. He was just ten minutes shy of his goal, but overall still enjoyed the experience for the third year in a row. He’s currently playing on one of the basketball teams at Baros and kept in shape without any special training for the run. For his fundraising efforts, Vizaddo exhausted all his options, asking friends and family to help him meet the difficult to reach €105 fundraising target.

From across the globe

Two exchange students were also excited to be a part of the run. Madiya Zholdanova, a student from Hong Kong Baptist University, also expressed how thrilled she was to be a part of a marathon in particular. Like Vizaddo, she didn’t schedule any specific training to prepare for the run, but instead kept in shape with the regular bodyfit classes at Erasmus Sport. Madiya finished in just 59 minutes, which was 16 minutes faster than the last time she had run 10 kilometers. She loved the experience and particularly enjoyed the atmosphere, commenting that there were children standing by the side and giving high-fives out to runners.

Caitlin Weren, a student from Waikato University in New Zealand, mentioned that she was looking forward to just being a part of a big event as a part of her stay in Rotterdam. Her favorite part of the race was encouragement from fellow runners and supporters, and even though she didn’t understand their cheering in Dutch, the support really made a difference. That, as well as a friendly stranger who decided to finish the last kilometer together with Caitlin, helped her complete the run in an hour and 20 minutes.

It was a little difficult to raise money through the page, as a lot of Caitlin’s friends and family from home didn’t have any euros handy. As a former scholarship recipient herself, she said that receiving one makes you value the educational experience that much more. When asked what advice she would give to recipients of the scholarship, Caitlin said to “make the most of your opportunities and use that motivation (from the scholarship) to get the best university experience for you”.