Novska skalinada, year 2016, Hanna Rozhko, then nine years old, was the youngest participant in the race. Since then, the now adult Ukrainian woman, who has lived in Montenegro with her family for almost ten years, has been looking for a new challenge, and has already tried her hand at sports that, in addition to running, include others - swimming, cycling, but also some of the mountain sports disciplines, such as trail running...
In an interview with "Vijesti", she says that winning a race is not the most important thing, that she is especially happy when she beats herself and that she enjoys socializing and having the opportunity to meet people with similar interests at races.
Eighteen-year-old Hanna Rozhko was born in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Her family, she says, decided to stay in Montenegro after a one-year vacation on the coast.
"When I was eight years old, I came on vacation with my parents, the plan was to spend ten days in Budva. However, we liked it a lot and stayed here to live. It will soon be 10 years since we have lived in Montenegro. First, for seven and a half years, we lived in Herceg Novi, the last two we have lived in Podgorica," she said in an interview with "Vijesti".
Hanna recently turned 18 and is a final year student at the Secondary Civil Engineering and Geodesy School "Inž. Marko Radević" in Podgorica, majoring in building construction.
At 18 years old, he has already run for half his life and participated in various races.
"It all started in 2016, when we lived in Herceg Novi, my mother saw an announcement for the Novska skalinada on a pillar, at that time it wasn't all that popular and available on the internet. I told my mother that I wanted to try it. I was nine years old, it was my first race. I really liked it. At that time, I was the youngest participant," she says.
After the first Skalinada in Herceg Novi, Hanna has been to this race every year:
"It has become a tradition that I have been observing for ten years."
The very next year, after the first Novska skalinada, Hanna participated in other races, including the Kotorska skalinada, and as a ten-year-old, she tried her hand at duathlon for the first time.
Duathlon is an athletic competition that includes two sports disciplines, running and cycling.
In 2019, she participated in the aquathlon for the first time, and in 2021, she registered for and completed the Bokek Triathlon in Perast, in the "super sprint" discipline.
Aquathlon involves swimming and running a certain distance. Triathlon is a combination of duathlon and aquathlon and includes the sports disciplines of swimming, running and cycling. The “super sprint” discipline in which Hanna competed in Perast involves a 370-meter swim, 10-kilometer bike ride and 2,5-kilometer run.
The Rozhko family moved from Herceg Novi to Podgorica two years ago, at the beginning of 2023.
"I train in two clubs here, running in the Athletic Club 'Milenijum', and swimming in the Swimming Water Polo Club 'Budućnost'. The conditions for running training are good, there are several really nice parks in Podgorica where we can train. I have been swimming for the last six months, and I have already competed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nikšić, and at the Montenegrin championship. So far, these are my two favorite sports," she says.
Hanna usually runs distances of five and ten kilometers. She ran five at the “Love Run” in Podgorica, the Herceg Novi Liberation Run, the Bokek Marathon, the “Festive Run”... Ten at the Podgorica Millennium Run, the Podgorica Desetka...
"I also love trails, the longest I participated in was the Boka Bay trail last year, when I participated in the 17,1 kilometer distance, from Tivat to Kotor. I want to go back to that race and run it again," she says.
She also participated in the "Gladiator" obstacle race, which was organized in 2023 on Lovćen and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"It was really nice, I would definitely visit a similar race again," she says.
For Hanna, racing is not just about competing with other participants:
"Winning is nice, but I also really like socializing, I have a lot of friends that I met at races. I'm very happy to know so many beautiful and talented people, it warms my heart. I'm happy when I achieve results, of course, and when I beat myself."
Last year, Hanna participated for the first time in the one-day Lyra challenge, which was organized in that format for the first time in Montenegro, as part of the Highlander Montenegro event.
Highlander is a multi-day hiking adventure, organized in several locations around the world: America, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe... In the region, it is organized in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia. In Montenegro, where Highlander is organized on Durmitor, until last year applications were only possible for the five-day challenge - Hercules. Last year, for the first time, the organizers also offered a one-day challenge, Lira.
"It was a really nice experience, I met new people with whom I share interests and I'm sure I want to try something similar again," says Hanna.
She was on Durmitor with her mother at the time. The two of them, Hanna adds, occasionally go hiking on their own. And that's not their only adventure together:
"Four years ago we cycled from Herceg Novi to Budva and back in two days, and then from Herceg Novi to Luštica, we also spent the night, but then in tents."
Moving to Podgorica also meant more opportunities for Hanna to participate in different races.
"When we moved to Podgorica, I started traveling more to different competitions and other cities. I really like that and I love it. Thank you to my parents who support me in that."
In addition to sports, Hanna also draws, makes handbags, key chains, and loves to cook.
"My mother makes toys, and I help her, and I also manage her Instagram account. I also make a lot of things with my hands: I draw, make handbags, key chains, various wooden objects (key chains, houses...), board games, and I also like to cook and prepare cakes, pancakes, muffins...".
When it comes to sports, the interviewee of "Vijesti" goes further:
"I want to go further and achieve even better results."
Bonus video:
