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When Poseidon gives voice: Gianna and her first half-marathon for an important cause
A pair of sneakers, a goal and a big heart. These will be Giana Bakanos' supplies when she lines up at the start of Poseidon Athens Half Marathon on Sunday, April 27th. The young runner has never participated in a race before but decided to take on the 21km course, not only to break her own limits but to give hope to women who need support. With every step she takes, she raises money for the Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre in Cambridge, UK. For Giana, Poseidon is not just a half marathon. It is a race full of symbolism, a distance of solidarity, strength and belief that every woman deserves to live without fear. On this occasion, she spoke to us about her participation, its charitable dimension and her relationship with running.
Tell us a few things about yourself so we can get to know you.
I was born in America but grew up here in Greece. I went to England to study. But I missed Greece while I was out. So when I got my master's degree the year before, I thought I'd come back for a while. I've always had some connection to running, but it was a bit more negative because I was running to lose weight. But then I started to deconstruct it all and running for me has now become the one, one and a half, two hours I have to myself and it helps me a lot. I worked in restaurants for years but now I'm an English teacher. I've been volunteering for eight years now for various causes. I started at university in a program where I was like a big sister to a kid from a family with financial problems and every week I would go to his house and help him with his homework and we would go for walks in the park. Then for two years I helped at Beat, a center for people with eating disorders. For the last three years I've been volunteering at Rape Crisis Center in Cambridge and I feel like I've found my purpose. The women, the organization there are the best.
How did you discover Poseidon Athens Half Marathon?
I found it on the internet by searching for a half marathon in Greece. Last year I made the decision that I would run a race and just googled to see when there are half marathons here. April suited me because even though I was running, I wanted to have enough time to train since I haven't run to that extent. I liked the location and the fact that it's in early spring in April. All the conditions were right for me to choose Poseidon as my first half marathon.
Have you run other races in the past?
No. Poseidon will be my first race.
How did you think of combining your participation with the Cambridge Rape Center?
When I was in Cambridge I saw many people representing the Rape Crisis Center at the city's half marathon. So when I was here and thought about participating in a race, I didn't just want to run. I wanted to run for a cause, to help raise awareness for this charity. Unfortunately there are a lot of myths and a lot of prejudice against women who have survived sexual assault or rape. It is, I think, a subject that, especially in this day and age where you see sexists, misogynists who really don't pay attention to what it means to be a woman, prevail in many high places in the world, is worth highlighting. That's why I wanted to raise money for the Centre, because I see how they work, what help and support they offer to women and those who identify as women. The UK government is now cutting the grant to the Centre so very soon they will be relying on donations and fundraising that people do. So I would very much like to raise money and awareness of issues like this to get conversations going because we are afraid to talk about it, to say it's the patriarchy's fault and to tell the truth. But this organization when they give us training, because in order to volunteer there you have to do 12 weeks of training, it really teaches us to believe the survivor and give the woman space to tell her story and feel strong through the email she sends us or when she calls us.
How much money do you ideally want to raise?
I had an initial target of £300 because I didn't have a four-figure amount in mind. So far I've raised 80%, which I didn't expect because it's my friends who support me and everyone offers what they can. Even giving £5 to a charity really is a huge help.
Do you now run regularly?
Yes, I have a programme. I train five times a week. I upload all the data to Strava which I've linked to the fundraising page for my followers to see.
What do you like most about running?
It's the time for myself. Because in every other area of my life, someone always wants my attention. When I run it's that time for me to be able to perform later in life. It's when I just stay with my thoughts, listen to music or a podcast and that time is left for myself so I can cope with the demands of my life later. If I don't have the time for myself, it becomes a mess in my mind and I can't. When I first started running I used to run up to 15 kilometres before I went to work. But it was very sloppy. I was just going out to run because I wanted to prove something. I also had an eating disorder for six years, so I had always combined running with the toxic culture of dieting. In the last four or five years I've deconstructed my relationship with food, fitness, and my body. I want to be strong, I do it for my health, I invest in myself and I do it because I love myself now and I don't hate myself. This is something I do for me. The half marathon is something I do solely for me, to see that I have what it takes to do this program every week. I come to Poseidon just to run, not to do a specific performance. I want to enjoy the day and I get excited just by the fact that I'm going to run and say I did it. For me it will be a huge thing.
If you would like to support Giana's efforts, make your donation"here".
Press and Communications Office of the Poseidon Half Marathon
