Best of Budapest & Hungary

On the last Saturday of August, Budapest Airport held its twelfth annual Runway Run charity race. More than a thousand athletes took part in this year’s event, which raised more than 19 million HUF in entry fees. Budapest Airport, operated by VINCI Airports, divided the amount equally between the Save Lives Foundation, which helps sick children to recover, and the SUHANJ! Foundation, which supports disabled athletes.

    Debuting with a new route this year, the Runway Run brought together more than a thousand people, representatives of the aviation industry and the beneficiary foundations, Budapest Airport’s partners and social media followers to compete in a unique environment and to support a noble cause with their registration fees. From the 19,884,768 HUF raised from entry fees, Budapest Airport has donated 9,942,384 HUF each to the Save Lives Foundation and the SUHANJ! Foundation, at a presentation ceremony this week. This brings the total amount of donations collected from the charity run to over 120 million HUF in 12 years.

    The Save Lives Foundation makes the dreams of children with serious, life-threatening diseases come true, supporting their recovery. Proceeds from the Runway Run are used to fund three main programs: the Dream School supports the integration of children returning to daily life after treatment, through school and education programs, the Dream Commando supports the families of children recovering from serious diseases and the Dream Wizards team makes the secret wishes and dreams of children with life-threatening diseases come true.

    The SUHANJ! Foundation will use the donation, amongst other things, for equipment - hand cycles, running strollers - to support sports for people with disabilities, and to develop the SUHANJ! Fitness, an integrated fitness center for disabled and able-bodied people, operated by the foundation.

    “Every year, we are proud to see see the unity and community that is created by the runners,” said Katalin Valentínyi, the chief communication and government relations officer of Budapest Airport. She added: “The race has now gone beyond uniting just the aviation industry, with hundreds of our partners, representatives of the foundations and followers of our social media channels coming together on race day to run for a good cause at one of the most unique venues in the country, Budapest Airport. We are delighted to donate the nearly 20 million HUF raised from Runway Run entry fees to the foundations again this year.”