As Lithuania was celebrating the 11th anniversary in NATO, over 1.5 thousand of runners outbraved adverse weather and surmounted the symbolic 3 kilometres on the runway of the Šiauliai Air Base on March 28. All the way Eurofighter Typhoons of the Italian Air Force were flying by and keeping the runners' spirits up.
The event also marked the 25th anniversary of the restoration of Lithuania's statehood. Military and civilian representatives of Lithuania's national defence system, personnel working at embassies of NATO member states, representatives of Estonian and Latvian air forces, Allied and Lithuanian military personnel, Italian, Polish, Spanish and Belgian troops currently guarding the Baltic airspace, the U.S. military deployed in Lithuania, members of the Lithuanian Amateur Runners Association, and others wishing, were running on the runway of the airbase at the event.
It was the first time that representatives of all the air contingents guarding the Baltic skies on the NATO Air Policing Mission, including those deployed in Estonia and Poland, gathered in the Šiauliai Air Base. Belgian pilots with F-16 Fighting Falcons from Poland and Spanish pilots with Eurofighter Typhoons from Estonia flew to Lithuania on the occasion of the run.
The most numerous civilian's team were awarded with a special prize of the Minister of National Defence - Commander Lithuanian Land Force Major General Almantas Leika presented the prize to a representative of the Taurus MMA sports club.
Incidentally, Italian soldiers were commemorating an anniversary of the Italian Air Force on the same day, so the commander of the Italian air contingent awarded prizes for the best man and women runners on that occasion.
After the event participants were invited for military-style tea, refreshments and an entertaining concert of the Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Force Big Band. Everybody who ran the 3-kilometre distance successfully were presented with keepsakes on the theme of aerial action.
Participants were able to view the fighter jets protecting the Baltic skies and a display of weaponry used at the Lithuanian Land Force.
Photo credits: Ieva Budzeikaitė
