On Saturday, several teams of Russia's famous sportsmen, actors, journalists and even politicians took part in a charity cross 'Race of heroes' as part of revival of the Ready for Labour and Defence program, supported by the Ministry of Defense. The race took place at hte Alabino testing range in Moscow region.

Ready for Labour and Defence, abbreviated as GTO, was the All-Union physical culture training program, introduced in the Soviet Union on March 11, 1931. It was a complement to the Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR. While the latter provided Soviet physical education system requirements only for athletes, GTO was a program for people of almost all ages and occupations.

Get a taste of the Ready for Labour and Defence program from this photo gallery by ITAR-TASS.