Ironman: the Ukrainian triathlete who swapped marathons for the front line

On February 24, 2022, Dmytro was awakened by a phone call from friends in Myrhorod: “They told me they were being bombed. At first I misunderstood and thought they meant that They were being robbed. I didn’t understand why they were calling me and not the police.”

Dmytro, an experienced marathon runner and Ironman competitor, had long been drawn to the solitude and discipline of long-distance running.

“Running allowed me to organize my thoughts and clear my mind. It was like tidying a room,” he told Euronews. Running a marathon is a mental battle, a test of resilience and a way to push your limits.

Swap your running outfit for a military uniform

Two days after Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine began, he decided to swap his running gear for a military uniform, joining the Poltava Territorial Defense Forces.

The skills he had accumulated over the years became invaluable when Dmytro faced a new type of marathon. War requires not only physical strength, but also deep reserves of emotional and psychological resilience.

Even in the chaos of war, Dmytro continued to run with one of his comrades, Serhii Ivanenko. “I trained him before the war. During our service, we were always together: Patrolling, training, running,” explains Dmytro.

In November 2023, Serhii was killed in action nearAvdiivka. “If it hadn’t been for my injury, I would have been with him. Maybe things would have turned out differently.”

“This is probably the end”

Dmytro was injured on January 19, 2023 during a combat mission near the Ukrainian town of Soledar in the region of Bakhmut. An enemy reconnaissance and sabotage group attacked Dmytro and his battalion from the side. He remembers that the battle lasted between 30 and 40 minutes. With his commander and a comrade, he approached the center of the fight before they separated.

“I noticed shots coming from a small neighboring village and I started shooting at the first point to stifle them,” he said, adding that from the second point, a shot was fired in his direction. “I only noticed out of the corner of my eye that the projectile was coming towards me,” he remembers.

Dmytro tried to retreat to the observation post for cover, but he was unable to do so in time. He was seriously injured by the explosion: “My first thought was: This is probably the end. Then I opened my eyes and saw my teeth scattered at the bottom of the pit. I was strangely happy , because it meant my eyes weren’t hurt,” he said.

Dmytro informed the commander that he wanted to evacuate on his own, as his wounds could not be treated on site and he feared losing consciousness from blood loss. Eventually he left with some of his comrades and, after walking 100 meters, he realized that he could manage on his own.

“I told my comrades to come back,” he continues. Dmytro walked for two kilometers, dropping to the ground after each mortar explosion. “When I reached the next position, our soldiers did not recognize me because I was covered in blood.”

To identify himself, he had to write his name in the mud.

“If you stay overnight we will fly you to Kyiv”

Shortly after, he arrived at Kramatorskwhere he received first aid before being transferred to Dnipro.

There, the doctors told him: “If you stay overnight, we will fly you to Kyiv. Otherwise, we will not waste any time or medicine.” He woke up the next morning and, as promised, was flown to Kyiv, where his long journey of healing began.

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“During the attack, a shrapnel hit my head and shoulder. The doctors advised me not to remove it. According to them, it seems to have encapsulated itself and is no longer moving,” he said. explained, specifying that this injury would probably follow him for the rest of his life.

After countless surgeries, doctors were able to reconstruct his nose using skin and cartilage from his ears and ribs.

“My upper teeth have been replaced. I still need to work on my lower teeth,” he added. His recovery continues, but the frequent surgical interventions take a heavy toll on his health, which is why he now takes several months off between each operation.

Running to recover?

After several months, Dmytro began training and running again, but he quickly reduced his training. For him, running has changed, as he no longer feels the need to train for results or prepare for a big race, as it was before the massive invasion in 2022.

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“To succeed in an Ironman, you have to train almost every day for eight to nine months, following a strict diet,” he explains.

Today, this is no longer the case for him. “All this is of course linked to the war, because we only want one thing: for it to end quickly. And it must not end in capitulation or defeat for us. There is simply no other option,” he added.

He said that running still gave him some moral and physical satisfaction, but it was incomparable to the feeling he had before the total invasion of Russia.

Nova Post Kyiv marathon starts without guns

“In the first months, my body reacted painfully to loud noises,” he explains. His first instinct was to dodge or throw himself to the ground. “Over time, I began to calm down, but my body continued to flinch at noises such as horns or bangs. Once, a tow rope breaking sounded like a gunshot, and I found myself crouching on the ground,” he recalls. The sound of gunshots also plays a role in marathons, the pistol being used to mark the start of the race.

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Recently, during the first barrier-free Kyiv Nova Post marathon, the organizers introduced a new starting sound, replacing the gun. This new sound, “Start without a shot”, developed with PTSD experts and sound designers, aimed to make the event more inclusive for people sensitive to the sounds of gunfirelike Dmytro.

For a month, an international team of experts, including sound artists from Barking Owl in Los Angeles, PTSD specialists, experts from Nova Post and psychoacoustics researchers from the Igor Sikorsky Polytechnic Institute in Kyiv, collaborated on creating a new starting sound for marathons. This initiative was born from the need to replace the traditional gun signal, which can trigger trauma in participants, especially veterans.

The results of their research revealed that the new sound significantly reduced stress levelswith an average alpha wave drop of only 3.8%, compared to a 24.9% drop associated with the gun signal.

The final composition features a three-part structure: a countdown timer to prepare runners, a distinctive synthetic start signal that stands out from the noise, and a resonant echo designed to foster community. According to the marathon organizers, tests showed that this innovative sound significantly reduced stress levels compared to the gun.

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“It’s a fantastic initiative,” he said, adding that it was comforting to know there were people in the organization who were thinking about it, working on it and, more importantly, making it happen.

Sounds That Trigger PTSD

Loud noises such as slamming doors, air defense sirens and explosions can trigger a seizure in veterans. “I saw men collapse, have convulsions or lose consciousness,” adds Dmytro. In his case, an internal dialogue allows him to remember that he is not on the front line. “I was on high doses of antidepressants for a year and a half and have been off them for a month. It’s difficult. One moment I feel good, the next I’m irritated or anxious“, he explains.

For him, it helps to stay busy. Having not yet been discharged from the army, he raises funds and auctions war trophies to help his comrades. “It allows me to stay in touch and ease the guilt of losing friends.”

Russia frequently attacks all regions of the country with drones and missilescreating an atmosphere of terror. For Ukrainians, the sound of air-warning sirens has become a sort of normality, but living in a constant state of terror has consequences.

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“I understood that mental health is even more important than physical health,” explains Dmytro. “When you feel good on the inside, everything is good on the outside.” He emphasizes the need to work on your mental health, by consulting a therapist and by engaging in leisure activities.

“When I was in the hospital, a psychologist came with an artist and we painted. It really helped me release pressure, release aggression. It was my own creativity that helped me to refocus myself,” he recalls. “It worked, even those small steps. A psychologist is essential, absolutely essential. If someone with PTSD or war trauma says they don’t need a psychologist, that’s often the first sign that she needs it,” he said.

Spend money on drones or marathons?

“Some say we don’t need marathons, that instead of spending money on races we should buy drones. Yes, drones are essential, but these events are also important. Marathons, public events and even grants to help veterans realize their ideas and dreams are essential” he said.

Because even in the darkest moments, dreams are born. “A lot of thoughts and ideas come to your mind during war. War is like a marker, where you filter all your beliefs and ideas, and start to see things differently,” Dmytro concluded.

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