In total. Large and small participants of “Noskrien Cēsis” joined the international Peace Run, which once again led through Cēsis this year. Photo: Jānis Gabrāns
The route of the Peace Run passed through Cēsi county this year as well. After a hiatus of several years due to the covid pandemic, the Peace Run is back on a bigger scale.
The runners of the international team arrived in Latvia on the evening of September 5 in Valka to carry the Torch of Peace through towns and parishes for several days, to meet with local residents, and to finish the Baltic branch race tomorrow in Jelgava.
At the border of the city of Cēsis, the international team was welcomed by the representatives of the “Noskrien Cēsis” team, both very young and experienced runners.
Anita Ieviņa said that participating in the Miera Run for the second time: “We were offered, and we agreed without thinking, because running is our passion! And this is still a special moment, if you can still run with a torch or at least hold it in your hands, it doesn’t happen every day!”
Cēsis residents, together with the participants of the Peace Run, arrived at Vienības Square, where a small solemn moment took place. Addressing the participants, the leader of the European team, Devashisu Torpi, thanked the participants for the nice welcome, stating that the purpose of the run is to bring a message of peace, friendship and harmony to everyone: “The main symbol of the run is the torch, and everyone has the opportunity to take it in their hands, also carry a piece while running . Countless people around the world have held this torch, including such well-known personalities as Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II, Paul McCartney.
The participants of the Peace Run have run on many continents, through many countries, they have met great people along the way, others have run a bit with the torch, others we have simply met on the road, on the street. Although for a while the Torch of Peace did not travel from person to person, from city to city and from country to country, the dream of peace and harmonious coexistence has always been burning in our hearts. This is especially important in these troubled times, when we must all protect the flame of the Torch of Peace together!”
From Cēsīm, the road led to Raiskuma, where the runners were welcomed and accompanied for a section by children from the Aleksandra Bieziņš elementary school. There was a joint photo shoot at the school, the children had the opportunity to hold the Peace Torch. The international team’s day ended at the campsite “Apaľkalns” with a bonfire soup, but already early on Thursday morning the Peace Run led to Straupi, where they were met by large and small students at the Straupi elementary school to run around the stadium with the international team, take photos and wish the runners good luck in the future , which led to Ledurga.
This year, the international team running the Baltic route includes runners from Australia, Croatia, Germany, England, as well as two runners from Ukraine. Among the team is Latvian Edgars from Riga, who has joined the international running team in Valka and will run to Jelgava.
This year’s coordinator of the Latvian stage, Emanuels Putāns, says that the Peace Run visited our country for the first time in 1993, since then Latvia has participated in this action more than fifteen times: “Until the pandemic, a European-wide run was held once every two years, in which people ran through all European countries, running about 24 thousand kilometers. Latvia was always on the running route, the path through it is different from time to time. There are cities we visit for the first time, others we return to, we are in Cēsis at least for the third time.”
When asked what motivates him to join the running team, E. Putāns states that it is an opportunity to meet wonderful people: “When we meet at bus stops or run a part of the road together, you can feel the friendship that exists between us, even though we don’t know each other. , we are able to work towards a common goal. Even when running in other countries, even though we don’t know each other’s language, we can’t talk, we run together with this Torch of Peace and share the positive feeling together.”
The greeters who came to Cēsis, in Vienības Square, wanted to clarify whether the run is really continuous. “Druva” asked E. Putan that. “Sure,” he says. “But not everyone runs the whole route. This is a team effort, it’s a relay, while someone is running, while another is resting in the accompanying transport, but there is always someone on the road with the Peace Torch in their hands.”
Peace Run The Peace Torch was lit for the first time on April 27, 1987 at the UN headquarters in New York, where it was lit by the author of the idea of this run, winner of the Gandhi Peace Prize and the UNESCO Peace Prize, philosopher, athlete, musician and artist Sri Chinmoy. During these 30 years, the torch has traveled to all continents, climbed to the top of the highest mountain in the world and even stayed in space.
2023-09-11 14:44:43
#worlds #largest #torch #relay #eDruva
