Team Rynkeby School Run started as an idea by Annette Jellesen and is now the largest exercise and charity run for children in the Nordic region - a fundraising event that brings together schoolchildren in several countries to run for the benefit of critical ill children.

How can you simultaneously raise funds and motivate schoolchildren to work together to make a difference for critically ill friends or classmates?

Annette Jellesen, a long-time Team Rynkeby participant, rider, and current team captain for Team Rynkeby Østjylland, had asked herself this question many times. In 2013, the pieces fell into place when the idea for the Team Rynkeby School Run was born by the then school principal.

Inspired by existing traditions and activities at schools, such as school sports days, Annette Jellesen's motivation was clear. She dreamed of creating a run where ‘children run for children,’ and in this way, the running part would not stand alone but instead highlight how students could make a difference together.  

 ”I really wanted it to become a tradition, that “children run for children”. That you are active and do something good for yourself while doing something good for others,” Annette Jellesen recalls about the driving force behind the school run.

The rest is history, one is tempted to say, about the ideas that have since materialised as the Nordic region's largest exercise and charity run for children, with more than 1,100 schools across Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Germany participating in the 24/25 season.

Small steps with big impact

However, it started on a much smaller scale. The first Team Rynkeby School Run saw the light of day before the Easter holidays in 2014. 

Annette Jellesen had personally contacted several schools and teamed up with a graphic designer who could help create some info materials. As a result of this work, 11 schools and a production school participated in the first edition.

The funds collected from the children initially went exclusively to the Children's Cancer Foundation and later to the Children's Lung Foundation, which today is the recipient of donations from the race.

”Lung disease is the illness that affects most children in school. The Team Rynkeby School Run in Denmark is about running for children who have lung disease and cannot run themselves,” says Annette Jellesen.

When children learn that they can make a difference together

From the very first year, things moved quickly, and Team Rynkeby School Run had already raised its first million Danish kroner, 133,800 EUR, by 2016 and reached many more schools.

However, Annette Jellesen also emphasises the importance of ensuring that the school run is never reduced to merely a fundraising machine. It is about teaching children that together we can make a huge difference by each contributing in our own way. And at the same time, it is a way of teaching future generations about Team Rynkeby's values.

"It's not about the money, but more about doing it together. Everyone does the best they can. The value is not measured in pounds and pence," says Annette Jellesen.

”From the outset, the ideology has been that each child should experience fighting with their own body to make a difference together,” she continues.

For Annette Jellesen, the highlights of the school run are seeing the stars in the children's eyes when they realise what a difference they are making together and how proud they become when they see the cheque with the funds they have raised. Or when the children see the Team Rynkeby riders visiting their schools and dream of participating themselves when they grow up.

”It becomes so real, and it brings so much joy and meaning to our lives when we do these things, because the children experience that giving makes you rich,” says Annette Jellesen.

A value-based community

Despite its growth since its inception, the Team Rynkeby School Run still stands by the same core values of exercise, social community and charity – the same values that also permeate Team Rynkeby. In this way, the school run is Team Rynkeby's little brother, says Annette Jellesen, revealing her dream. 

"My dream is that all schools throughout Denmark will hold a charity run. My wish is that it's not about who gives the most or who runs the furthest, but that everyone contributes."