Kilometers and Barriers: Students of the SUSU Faculty of Military Education Took Part in the Race of Heroes

On June 22nd, students of South Ural state University took part in the Race of Heroes, a new team-based military sports game, well-known throughout Russia. Students of the Faculty of Military Education conquered a 10-kilometer track with obstacles on the Chebarkul military training grounds in the qualifying round of Cadet Surge.

The Race of Heroes has been held since 2013; now it covers 16 cities of our country. Participants of the game test their physical fitness and strength of mind, completing a race over rough terrain. This year, the organizers introduced a new form of competitions – Cadet Surge. It involves teams from military schools and military training centres of civilian universities. On this day, the second stage of the Cadet Surge took place at the Chebarkul military training grounds, in which 12 teams of the Urals and Siberia tested their strength.

Several people came to the training grounds for the Race of Heroes: State Secretary, Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Nikolay Pankov; Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation Viktor Goremykin; Commander of the Troops of the Central Military District Aleksandr Lapin, and Acting Vice-Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region, Minister of Public Security of the region Oleg Klimov.

In his opening speech, the Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation announced a minute of silence in memory of the 78th Anniversary of World War II, commemorated on June 22nd, after which the participants of the Race of Heroes launched balloons into the sky. Then, Nikolai Pankov expressed his confidence in the readiness of the teams for a fair fight and gave the command to start the competition.

"You – the younger generation of Russian citizens – play a special role. You are our hope and pillar, and the power of our state is made up of the strength of each of you - your unity and readiness for solidarity. The key to victory in the Cadet Surge is team cohesion, the support of their comrades and immediate readiness to help them. For this competition, we only chose the best university students and cadets of military schools, who are eager to be the best in everything and prove to the world that they are a worthy generation of Russia!"

South Ural State University was represented by seven students of the Faculty of Military Education. Five of them became the main participants, two more were there as backup. Compared to the other groups involved in the Cadet Surge, our university’s team was special, said Head of SUSU FME Nikolai Karpov:

"The team members were chosen with consideration for the personal desire of students and their experience in such competitions. Some of the students who entered the group have previously overcome obstacles in the Race of Heroes individually. In total, there were two groups, from which we selected the strongest ones. Of all the teams who came to the Cadet Surge, this was the only team in which there is a girl – a student of our Department of Communications Margarita Mulyukova".

Participants of the Race of Heroes conquered almost 10 kilometres and 34 obstacles. They had to crawl under a tank, scale high springboards, jump over deep ditches, and dive into cold water. This time, shots were fired nearby and clouds of dust rose from the explosions. Some of the obstacles proved difficult even for trained and resilient athletes. For one of the especially difficult tasks, Deputy Minister of Defence of the RF Nikolai Pankov came to cheer on the team.

After the race, student Margarita Mulyukova shared her emotions from conquering the obstacles: "I have never done anything like this, and the physical load was very unusual, despite the fact that I am a powerlifter. The obstacle course was difficult; the most terrible for me was jumping into the water. But throughout the race I was very supported by the team’s concern, I felt more confident next to the guys. This will be one of my most vivid memories not only in terms of sports, but also, probably, in life in general".

Representatives of the Faculty of Military Training note that students’ participation in the race is of great importance for their personal growth.

"The most important thing is that the students obtained new moral experience and tested themselves. About two hundred people volunteered to participate in the race, and this is an indicator that our students are not afraid to face difficult challenges. The slogan of the Race of Heroes sounds like a call: “Do a Deed”. And the team did it," said Deputy Chief of the FME Konstantin Krikunov.

SUSU is the only university in the Chelyabinsk Region that has a Faculty of Military Education. At the end of the 2017-2018 academic year, the SUSU FME was recognized as the best in Russia. As of September 1st of 2019, it will be renamed the Military Training Centre due to the unification of the military training system in civilian higher education institutions.