"Today we sent a strong message: sport is inclusion, it's the outstretched hand of a champion to those fighting to get back to life, it's proof that no one should ever be left behind." Among the more than two thousand runners in the StraOlbia21 was Ivana Russu, the Democratic Party's group leader in the City Council, who crossed the 10km finish line with her teammates from the Academy Olbia Atletica, and regional champion Salvatore Mei, who chose to keep pace with her.
Bib number 877 and a red armband with the words "John Paul II Oncology Department" written on her left arm, Ivana Russu ran the marathon that, exactly one year ago, saved her life. "A year ago, I was running the Olbia21 - 10 km and a friend of mine was in pain. She had to have an ultrasound because of that injury, and she convinced me to go with her. That's when I found out I had cancer. My hardest race was about to begin, but I've never faced it alone," she wrote on social media.
"Today, I crossed that finish line again: these ten kilometers had a special meaning. I ran them with my brother, my pillar of support, and with the regional champion, Salvatore Mei, who chose to escort me to the finish."