53.3300° N, 6.2270° W · DUBLIN → 49.8397° N, 24.0297° E · LVIV

A Petya's Battalion campaign · Dublin to Lviv

Petya's Run ›››

One run. One vehicle. 2,800 km east to Ukraine.

Run complete 100 km in 14 hours · 12 September 2026

I ran 100 km from the Ukrainian Embassy in Dublin to Baltinglass, over the Wicklow Mountains, in 14 hours, to fund a vehicle my partner and I will drive to Lviv, to be used as a frontline ambulance and to carry aid. This is a shared struggle: what we raise goes straight to the people who need it most.

◈ Donate now Sponsor the run ›

€0 raised Minimum €5,000

€5,000 puts the vehicle on the road. Every euro over it buys more aid.

FIRST DELIVERY · ALREADY DONE

The Iron Horse

Proof it works: our first vehicle is already in Ukraine, in service.

Delivered to Ukraine, in person

The Iron Horse, handed over

We did it once already. We collected The Iron Horse in Edinburgh for Drive to Save Lives (D2SL) and drove it from there across Europe to Ukraine, with Petya riding shotgun.

We handed it directly to our contact in Ukraine, a volunteer who gets vehicles to the people who need them, and it is in service now. Petya's Run is about doing it again, and again.

The crew handing the Iron Horse over to their contact in Ukraine — The handover

The Iron Horse kitted out and in service in Ukraine — In service

01 · THE MISSION

What we are doing

Three moving parts, one objective: put a road-worthy vehicle, and essential aid, into Ukrainian hands, to be used as a frontline ambulance.

Run & raise

Done: a sponsored run from the Ukrainian Embassy in Dublin to Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow, 100 km mostly along the Wicklow Way in 14 hours, raising the funds that make everything else possible.

Buy the vehicle

Source and prepare a rugged, road-worthy vehicle in Ireland, ready to be used as a frontline ambulance and to carry medical and humanitarian supplies.

Deliver to Lviv

My partner and I drive it ourselves, Ireland to Lviv, roughly 2,800 km across the continent, and hand it over for humanitarian use on the ground.

02 · THE REASON

Why we are doing it

Out there, vehicles are used up almost as fast as they arrive, lost to shelling, mines and broken roads. A vehicle that carries the wounded out in time is the difference between a life saved and a life lost.

This is not an abstraction. Front-line medics burn through vehicles constantly, and no single delivery is ever enough. What keeps people alive is a steady stream of vehicles, kept flowing by ordinary people buying cars, loading them with aid and driving them east, again and again.

I'm doing this alongside Drive to Save Lives (D2SL), one of many volunteer groups doing the same across Europe. We deliver directly to a vetted recipient, with no middleman, and cover our own food and lodging, so every euro donated goes to the vehicle, the journey and the aid it carries.

Delivered in person.Handed to a vetted recipient in Lviv, not sold, not stockpiled.
Used where it counts.An ordinary vehicle, prepared in Ireland and put to work as a frontline ambulance.
Aid on board.The vehicle travels loaded with medical supplies and equipment, not empty.
Full transparency.Costs published, receipts kept, the journey documented from Dublin to Lviv.

One vehicle is a drop. A steady stream is a lifeline. This run is one part of a wider, decentralised civilian effort: volunteers across Europe raising money and driving vehicles east, over and over, so that Ukrainian medics never run out of wheels.

03 · THE RUN

How it starts: the run

One runner, one day, the full route: on Saturday 12 September 2026 I set off at 07:30 from the Embassy gates and ran every kilometre home to Baltinglass, 100 km in 14 hours, with friends running stages alongside me and finishing in the dark. If you pledged by the kilometre, it came to 100.

100 kmDistance · done

14 hrsOn foot

2,900 mClimb, approx.

12 SepRun date · 2026

Road approach Wicklow Way West to Baltinglass

Embassy to the trailhead

~8 km

Ballsbridge out through Milltown and Rathfarnham to Marlay Park, where the Wicklow Way begins. Roads and parkland to warm the legs.

Marlay Park to KnockreeWicklow Way

~18 km

Up over Fairy Castle and the Dublin uplands, through Glencullen and Curtlestown Wood into the first real hills.

Knockree to RoundwoodWicklow Way

~16 km

Past Powerscourt, the boardwalk climb of Djouce, and high above Lough Tay before dropping to Roundwood.

Roundwood to GlendaloughWicklow Way

~11 km

Forest track and open hillside down into the monastic valley of Glendalough and its two lakes.

Glendalough to GlenmalureWicklow Way

~12 km

Over the shoulder of Mullacor into the deep glacial valley of Glenmalure, under Wicklow's highest ground.

Glenmalure to AghavannaghWicklow Way

~12 km

Beneath the eastern flank of Lugnaquilla to Aghavannagh, the last point where our route rides with the Way.

Aghavannagh to BaltinglassWest branch

~17 km

Leave the Way and turn west down the Slaney valley, through Knockanarrigan and Donard, to finish in Baltinglass.

The planned route was 94.6 km with about 2,900 m of ascent and 2,800 m of descent; on the day it came to 100 km. It mostly followed the waymarked Wicklow Way (Marlay Park to Aghavannagh) before branching west to Baltinglass, and the stage splits above are approximate. Note the Glen of Imaal army artillery range on the western side is closed to the public on firing days, so the planned finish kept to public roads via Donard.

04 · THE ROUTE

How it ends: Dublin to Lviv

Once the vehicle is bought and loaded, we drive it east ourselves by ferry, motorway and border crossing, roughly 2,800 km to Lviv.

Ireland 🇮🇪

START · Rosslare

Collect and equip the vehicle, load the aid, and drive to the ferry port.

Ferry to France 🇫🇷

~20 hrs at sea

Rosslare to Cherbourg by ferry, the crossing that skips the UK and lands us on the continent.

France → Germany 🇩🇪

~900 km

North-east across France and into Germany, running the autobahn corridor east.

Germany → Poland 🇵🇱

~700 km

Through Germany into Poland, staging near Kraków / Rzeszów before the border.

Poland → Lviv 🇺🇦

FINISH · ~350 km

Across the Ukrainian border and on to Lviv, where the vehicle and aid are handed over.

Petya on the road

Petya, the knitted bear, beside a pint of Guinness on the ferry — On the ferry

Petya in front of Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, Poland — Poland · Kraków

Petya at the King Danylo monument in Lviv, Ukraine — Ukraine · Lviv

05 · THE COST

Where the money goes

€5,000 is the minimum to buy a road-worthy vehicle and drive it from Ireland to Lviv. Anything raised beyond that is a stretch goal: more aid for the front. Figures below are our current estimates.

◈The vehicle€2,500

A rugged, road-worthy 4×4 / van, purchased and checked in Ireland.

⛽Fuel across Europe€800

Diesel for ~2,800 km east, plus getting the crew home once the vehicle is handed over.

⚓Ferries & tolls€700

The Ireland to France crossing plus European motorway tolls.

▤Tax, insurance & documents€500

Short-term road tax and cross-border insurance for a month or two, plus paperwork.

✦Contingency€500

Repairs, spares and the unexpected on a long drive east.

✚More aidStretch goal

The €5,000 minimum puts the vehicle on the road. Every euro past it buys more medical kit and humanitarian supplies to load aboard: the more we raise, the more aid rides east.

Minimum target

€5,000

Stretch · every € over buys more aid

€5,000 is the minimum we need to buy the vehicle and drive it to Lviv. We fund our own food and lodging. Donations pay for the vehicle, the journey east, getting the crew home again, and the aid it carries.

RECEIPTS KEPT · COSTS PUBLISHED · JOURNEY DOCUMENTED

06 · BACK THE MISSION

How to donate

Any amount moves the vehicle east. Pick whatever is easiest for you and every euro is accounted for.

◈

Donate online

By card, in any amount, through our GoGetFunding page. Scan the code or follow the link.

Scan to donate on our GoGetFunding campaign page

Scan to give

◈ Donate now ›

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Where it goes

€5,000 puts the next vehicle on the road: €2,500 the vehicle itself, €800 fuel for the 2,800 km east and the crew home, €700 ferries and tolls, €500 tax, insurance and paperwork, €500 contingency.

See the full breakdown ›

✎

Every euro accounted for

We keep receipts, publish the costs and document the journey from Dublin to Lviv. We pay our own food and lodging along the way.

GoGetFunding charges a platform fee and card processing on each donation, so a little under 7% goes to them rather than to the vehicle. We use them because they will handle a fundraiser like this one.

Pledged by the kilometre?

It came in at 100 km. Thank you for backing it. You can pay your pledge on our GoGetFunding page, or get in touch if you'd rather arrange it another way.

◈ Pay your pledge ›

Write on the vehicle

For a donation from €10, have your name or a message written on the body of the vehicle once it reaches Ukraine. Your words stay there, in Ukraine, a small mark of a shared struggle.

✎ Write on the vehicle ›

Print a poster

Can't give money? Give a wall. Print one for a club noticeboard, a shop window, a gym or a staff room. A3 for a noticeboard, A4 for anywhere else, and an ink-light A4 if you're printing a stack of them at the office.

▤ A3 poster ▤ A4 poster ▤ A4 ink-light