The Marathon for Peace is one of Cooperativa Liberté's founding milestones: two editions, separated by three and a half years, in which something happened that is hard to explain without having witnessed it. Incarcerated people, crime victims, formerly incarcerated people, family members, professional marathon runners, and judicial officials stood together at the same starting line and crossed the same finish line together. As far as we know, it was the first marathon in the world held inside a prison with this human composition.
How the idea was born
After a series of "Open Doors" days at Unidad Penal N°15 in Batán, Pampa came up with the idea of holding a "Marathon for Peace." He was inspired by a sporting event held in the province of Corrientes organized by Víctimas por la Paz. But he didn't just want to copy the idea: at Liberté, the marathon had to serve a purpose beyond running — so that victims, incarcerated people, family members, and judicial officials could share the same pavement.
But first, they had to wait. When Pampa brought the idea to Dr. Mario Juliano — by then formally the godfather of Liberté — the judge was hesitant at first. He listened, and he made Pampa wait: "let's see how it goes," he said, in that measured tone of his. The idea was left in suspense while another project Pampa had also proposed moved forward: painting an enormous mural on the wall of the overpass visible from the workshop, which would eventually become El Mural Más Lindo Del Mundo. And it was there, when that mural was finished, that Mario came over and, almost under his breath, said to Pampa: "if you think it's a good idea, let's start organizing the marathon."
March 2019: the first starting gun
The first Marathon for Peace was run in March 2019, inside Unidad Penal N°15 in Batán. The course was laid out using the prison's internal perimeter roads, out and back. The start took place at Liberté and the finish line and closing ceremony were held at the Comunidad Pastoral Universitaria. There was live music, an awards ceremony, and a series of speakers who shared a strikingly emotional state — especially when it was the turn of the president of the Marathon Runners' Federation, whose board members had traveled to oversee the competition.
That same day, as part of the cultural program accompanying the marathon, the painting exhibition "Enamorate si podés" by artist Betina Ferrara was inaugurated.
The marathon was not run only by Liberté members, their families, and other incarcerated people from UP15. Judicial officials, prison staff, and the professional marathon runners who came to oversee the event also competed. Many participants ran wearing donated shirts from the inspiring marathon that gave birth to the idea — shirts that participants still treasure to this day.
True to Liberté's principles, the marathon was inclusive by design: each participant, grouped by category, measured their own performance against others in a similar physical condition. Some participants even had the opportunity to take part in walking mode.
The day Diana came to Batán
Dra. Diana Márquez came to that first marathon — for the first time in her life. It was her first visit to the prison at Batán. There she discovered Liberté, and what she saw changed her plans. Three years later, she would be co-creator of Restaurante Punto de Paz — the first restaurant in the world run by incarcerated people — and today she is secretary of Cooperativa Liberté. The marathon was the door: the alliance with Víctimas por la Paz had already begun with the mural, but it was that day — March 2019 — that Diana crossed the walls of Batán for the first time and the bond began to form from which several shared chapters would later emerge — among them Restaurante Punto de Paz.
2019, a year of many voices
The marathon was not the only major undertaking Liberté threw itself into during that period. In 2019, the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Committees were getting started, with all their expected debates: the Cabinet, the Committee, and the Assembly known as Batán rinde cuentas. Liberté representatives participated in those spaces alongside prison staff from administrative areas, the head of the SPB, and even the Provincial Minister of Security. And in December of that same year, another milestone in the same series was unveiled: El Mural Más Lindo Del Mundo, painted on December 19, 2018 on the wall of the overpass that Liberté's workers saw every day throughout their entire shift.
November 19, 2022: the second edition
The second Marathon for Peace was run on November 19, 2022, organized once again by Víctimas por la Paz and Liberté, with the same characteristics as the first: professional marathon runners, incarcerated people, family members, and judicial officials running together. By this time Liberté had already moved to its current Territory, and the marathon also served as an occasion to honor Restaurante Punto de Paz — which had by then been operating inside the Unidad for several months. The start and finish were events that took place entirely within the cooperative's institution.
Running to repair
If the restaurant taught us that a table can do what no cell can, the marathon taught us something parallel: the road repairs too. Twenty-one kilometers run side by side by a victim and an incarcerated person changes the distance between them. Afterwards, it is no longer the same distance. That is why — together with Víctimas por la Paz and the Marathon Runners' Federation — we are exploring the possibility of a third edition.
