site.btaRun2Gether Draws Over 5,000 Participants for Equal Opportunities

More than 5,000 people supported this year’s run Run2Gether 2026, held in Sofia on May 30, organizers said on Sunday. The event drew 3,000 participants on site and nearly 2,000 virtual runners from other Bulgarian cities.

The Social Future Foundation launched the largest charity sports event, held for the ninth consecutive year. The event set another record, drawing 42 corporate teams, including two with 250 and 150 participants, respectively.

Sports journalist Iliya Iliev, again an ambassador for the initiative, hosted the official segment, with sign language interpretation provided by Slavina Lozanova and Tanya Dimitrova. Official guests included representatives of the Sofia, European Capital of Sport Foundation: Executive Director Damyan Dikov, Organization Secretary Anatoli Iliev, and Management Board members Dimitar Petrov and Hristo Koparanov.

The event was backed by ambassadors from the arts, sports, entertainment and media, including Yana Marinova, Ivaylo Zahariev, Zlatka Dimitrova, Bilyana Yotovska, Emil Milkov, Preya, Georgi Malchev and many others. Blind runner and inspirational figure Viktor Asenov also served as an ambassador. Several teams also joined as ambassadors, including ParaKids, which gives people with disabilities equal access to sports, the Sofia-Balkan wheelchair basketball team, and others from across the country.

“We are happy that, since the first event, when there were about 500 of us, we have grown so much. It shows that, despite the difficulties, this run is attracting more and more supporters committed to its goal: greater equality and an easier life for people with disabilities in Bulgaria,” said Yoana Koleva, director of Social Future Foundation. Koleva thanked all sponsors and partners of the run, as well as the organizing team from Social Future Foundation, JAMBA, and Sofia – European Capital of Sport Foundation.

The run started at St Alexander Nevsky Square. The five-kilometre course comprised two 2.5 km laps and finished at the starting point. All participants received medals, but the run has not been competitive since its first edition. Under the rules, each participant with a disability or other challenge chooses a runner to accompany them, running or walking the course to the finish.

Due to strong interest, parents with prams started separately. Shortly before the start, Zlatka Dimitrova and Bilyana Yotovska led a warm-up.

All proceeds from the event go to the JAMBA Career Centre, Hub of Opportunities, where young people with disabilities learn skills to help them enter the labour market. Over the past year, dozens of group and individual training sessions for people with disabilities were held there free of charge. Many participants also found new employers.

The run fell on World MS Day, launched by the MS International Federation to raise awareness of people with multiple sclerosis, their needs and ways to improve access to treatment and social inclusion. The date is also marked as World Schizophrenia Day, which raises public awareness of people living with mental illness and how they can be fully supported.

The event is part of European Diversity Month.

Social Future Foundation is a public-benefit non-governmental organization. Its main goal is to support young people with disabilities in training, career guidance and labour market integration in Bulgaria. In September 2017, the foundation and its JAMBA cause launched a partnership with the Thai organization Klongdinsor Co., founded by Chatchai Aphibanpoonpon, organizer of the successful charity mini-marathon Run2gether. Since 2018, the run has also been held in Sofia and has set a positive example for many other sports events in the country.