Three Londoners running 1,600 km across the Balkans to fight child trafficking

Three men from London have begun a grueling 1,000 mile run (1,600 kilometers) from Odessa in Ukraine to Dubrovnik in Croatia to raise money for anti-child trafficking charity Love146. Rob Martineau, Tom Stancliffe and Guy Hacking (in picture, at the Marathon des Sabes) want to raise GBP 150,000 to combat slavery and exploitation of children. They are aiming to run the 1,000 miles in just 30 days, passing through nine countries including Romania, and covering the equivalent of 39 marathons.

“It’s tragic to think of children living in slavery. Love146 are determined to end child trafficking. It’s such an important cause and it’s great to be able to support the charity’s work. The run will be tough, but the cause will drive us on,” said one of the runners, Guy Hacking. After crossing Ukraine and Moldova, the trio should arrive in Braila, Romania on Saturday, April 6, and will have a rest day in the Romanian city. After that it's on to Bucharest then Bulgaria, before continuing through Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia and finally Croatia. The money raised will allow Love146 to build a home in the UK that provides specialist aftercare to children who are victims of human trafficking. Other fundraisers are joining in and will accompany the three runners for parts of the course, but only Rob, Tom and Guy are planning to go the distance. Tom Stancliffe explained that the main challenge will be recovering sufficiently between each day, when they will run more than the marathon distance, before doing it all over again. “We will have to run through the pain barrier and can't slow down for sore knees, sprained ankles, severe blisters or stomach upsets!” he said. As if that wasn't enough, they will also be carrying equipment in rucksacks while they run and sleeping “where they can” on the way. But despite the magnitude of the challenge, the fundraisers were upbeat ahead of the start. “It’s going to be a great adventure for us and although we’re all a little nervous about the challenge, we’ve trained hard and we’re eager to hit the road,” said Rob Martineau. Find out more on the Run For Love website. editor@romania-insider.com