University to sponsor Leiden Canal Run
At this year's Leiden Canal Run (Singelloop) on 5 April, €4.44 per runner will go to charity instead of the usual €4. This is because Leiden University is donating the symbolic sum of 44 cents for each runner who enters the race.
€4.44 per entrant
Leiden University is sponsoring the Canal Run as part of its 444th birthday, which it is celebrating in style this year with a whole range of activities. Coincidentally, it is the 44th Canal Run this year. The University has therefore decided to add to the money raised for the Singelloop’s charities, bumping up the amount raised per runner to the symbolic sum of €4.44.
Healthy students and staff
The University is calling on its students and staff to take part in the Canal Run [in Dutch] because a running event isn’t just fun but also meets our aim to promote the health of our students and staff. We recently became the first Dutch university to join the Healthy Universities network, and are trying to start and support health initiatives.
Sporting university
There have been strong links between training the mind (with study and research) and body (with sport) for 444 years now. The nascent University gained fame for its fencing school. And over 400 years later, many of its students and staff are active members of the University Sports Centre. Alongside the Canal Run , there are other sporting elements to our 444 celebrations, such as a new Leiden - The Hague cycle route and the Science Run, on 28 September 2019, which will be exactly 4.44 km.
Celebrating in and with Leiden and The Hague
We are celebrating our special birthday in and with the university cities of Leiden and The Hague. We are also finding unusual ways to introduce the residents of the two cities to our university, such as during the Canal Run, on 3 October and at the Liberation Day festival in The Hague. We also want the people of Leiden and The Hague to come across us in unexpected places such as schools, cafés and along the canals of Leiden.
Charities
The entrance fee always goes to charities in Leiden. The sponsorship means that they will receive more money this year. The charities for the 44th Singelloop are:
- Van Wijckerslooth en Hofwijck sheltered housing
- Mytylschool de Thermiek
- Vlietlande sheltered housing
- DIOK rugby club
- Leiden Toonkunst orchestra
- Babyhuis
- Issoria Hospice
- Van Velsen care farm