The Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run, an international torch relay, will be coming to the area on Friday, May 24.
The international team from five different countries is on a four-month journey across the U.S. and Canada to share a message that peace begins with the individual.
An estimated 50,000 children in more than 1,000 cities and towns along the route are expected to participate when the Peace Run ( peacerun.org) visits schools, youth organizations and local events. Runners will offer educational presentations that promote self-esteem and the oneness of humanity.
The team will run 74 miles on May 24 from Cebolla, N.M., to Pagosa Springs on U.S. 84, passing the Peace Torch along the way.
Mayor Shari Pierce will welcome the peace runners to town at noon on Friday at Town Hall, and children will pass the peace torch at 2:30 p.m. at the Pagosa Community Initiative at 3133 Cornerstone Drive.
For more than 35 years the Peace Run has traversed over 160 nations throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia as a symbol of humanity’s universal aspiration for a more peaceful world.
A team of runners left New York City in April, passing the Torch along the over 10,000-mile route. The continuous relay will also run through three provinces of Canada during the four-month journey before arriving back in New York mid-August.
The European Peace Run started in Portugal in March and concludes in Hungary in October.
Since the inaugural run in 1987, more than 7 million people have participated. Commendations have come from many world figures including Pope Francis (who lit the Peace Torch in March at the Vatican), President Nelson Mandela, President Mikhail Gorbachev, Mother Teresa, Olympians, state governors, city mayors and celebrities across the world.
Carl Lewis, nine-time Olympic Gold-medalist, said, “By carrying the Torch, you will be bridging cultural and social barriers, and all the boundaries that separate nation from nation. You will be the living proof of the ancient vision of having a beautiful and harmonious world.”
The Peace Run was inspired by visionary Sri Chinmoy to give citizens a dynamic way to express their own hopes and dreams for a more harmonious world.
An athlete, philosopher, artist, musician and poet, Chinmoy dedicated his life to advancing the ideals of world harmony and said, “How can we have peace? Not by talking about peace, but by walking along the road of peace.”
