Sport, solidarity and love

Maratón Medellín
Sun 8 September 2019

Running with a purpose was the motivation for Carlos Quintero, his sister Alejandra, Julián Otálvaro and Víctor Arango to set up the sports movement “Steps of Happiness” five years ago. Today there are more than a hundred athletes from all over Colombia who are committed to the cause and will be running in the 2019 Medellín Marathon.

“I run – you give” is the slogan under which runners in the Medellín Marathon raise money, which finances a children’s Christmas party and a celebration of Children’s Day. Donors are asked to contribute 1000 pesos (0.27 EUR) per kilometre run.

“In 2014 we set up a working group to promote the sport and to contribute to the most needy and vulnerable in our community,” says Julián Otálvaro. “Since then we have run hundreds of kilometres for this, which is why we say we run not only with our legs but also with our hearts.”

The committee’s goal this year is to raise 50 million COP (13,000 EUR) and they are optimistic that they will reach it, because people have seen the results and are committed.

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