March 10th, 2022 - The trend originating from Sweden has been taking root in Istria over the last few years
An interesting event combining fitness and ecology will take place in Pula this weekend, on Sunday the 13th of March. A so-called plogging race was announced earlier today in the Šijana forest park, reports Glas Istre.
Plogging is a unique activity which originates from Sweden and involves picking up garbage while jogging outdoors - saving the planet, one run at a time. The trend gets its original name ‘plogga’ from a combination of two words, ‘jogga’ for jogging and ‘plockka up’ which translates to ‘picking up’ in Swedish. Apart from helping the environment, plogging is also believed to be very beneficial for physical health as it involves a lot of coordinated muscle activity.
A number of plogging races were held in southern Istria in 2019 and 2020, and the praiseworthy initiative now marches on with the upcoming Sunday race in Pula.
There’s no registration fee, and anyone interested can participate in one of two categories. The first is a competitive category for runners, and will have the racers jogging on the Orchid trail (Croatian: Orhideja), collecting waste within the marked area for 60 minutes.
The second is a family-friendly category, intended for everyone who wants to lend a helping hand and do some good while out on a nice walk in nature. Teams are required to have a minimum of two members and will have an hour to collect discarded waste on the Little Prince trail (Croatian: Mali princ), i.e. on the central plateau in Šijana.
All the participants will be provided with garbage bags and gloves, and they will also receive participation certificates. Those who collect the most discarded garbage during the race will also be presented with special prizes from the event’s sponsors.
The race was announced by Silvia Butiggnoni, the director of the Public Institution Natura Histrica, and Erik Lukšić of the ISTRun company.
