The dawn of a new day, dawn of a new hope, dawn of a new aspiration, dawn of a new promise ...
... with every sunrise, humanity's ageless dream of a new world, a new oneness-home of peace, stirs anew.
The statue of Peace Run founder, Sri Chinmoy, is entitled "Dreamer of Peace" – the appropriate venue for the commencement of a dream-within-a-dream – to carry the Peace Torch, representing our heart's flaming aspiration for peace – right around this ancient, magnificent continent, Australia.
On this tranquil morning, peace reigned supreme.
Members of the running team gathered...
ACT Patron of the Peace Run, Dr Andrew Leigh MP, with running team captain, Munkhjargal ("Muggi") Lkhaasuren of Mongolia.
Kateryna Dubko (Ukraine) and Anastasia Tabachnikova (Russia) join in a silent prayer for peace.
ACT Peace Run Coordinator, Prachar Stegemann, introduces Dr Leigh to the running team ...
... and speaks a few words about the journey ahead...
... Andrew Leigh responds, congratulating the team on their vision and wishing them well in their journey.
Andrew, a keen runner himself, had just the day before competed in the Sri Chinmoy "Cooleman Clip" 10km trail run.
The running team assembled this morning is only a fraction of the team who will carry the Torch around the continent.
Shane Rattenbury MLA, Leader of the Greens in the ACT Legislative Assembly, has participated in every Peace Run in the ACT since the early '90s. Welcoming the team to country, Shane spoke beautifully of the significance of the dream of the Peace Run.
Where it all begins – in silence...
The first rendition of Sri Chinmoy's Peace Run song...
... now it's time for the first steps!
Shane Rattenbury was chosen to be the first Torch bearer for the journey...
At this point, the team split into 3 – we will now follow Team A, whose task was to carry the Peace Torch from the start, to the ACT border, high in the Brindabella Ranges.
Everyone was eager to join the team...
Shane runs the Torch past the start of the Sri Chinmoy Peace Mile at Westbourne Woods.
Running with Shane are Australian ultra-running legends, Annabel Hepworth and Martin Fryer.
For the next leg, the Torch is passed to National Coordinator of the Peace Run in Australia, Stacey Marsh.
Hastakamala Diaz takes the lead...
Refuelling...
"No One Left Behind" Chinese running club came out in full force to support the Peace Run. Jenny Chen ran several legs, while Ming Liu, Yichen Yan, Yihaojie Qian and Xuan Liu all ran 35km with the Torch, alongside Annabel Hepworth, while team coordinator, Huirui Mo and his son, drove the support vehicle and kept everyone's spirits soaring.
Douglas Claudio de Oliveira is a former neighbour and friend of core team member Ronivon de Oliveria, both from Saō Paulo, Brazil. Douglas started at 2.30am to drive from Sydney to join the team just for today.
After leaving suburbia, the route went off road to cross the Molonglo and Murrumbidgee Rivers.
Roni hands to Torch to Ben Keaney, as the team enters the Brindabella Ranges.
Roni and Douglas successfully navigated their way through a particularly rugged and steep section of bushland.
Entering the Namadgi National Park, ACT Coordinator Prachar Stegemann ran the final 5km stint within the ACT – all uphill! ...
... to Piccadilly Circus, on the ACT/NSW border on top of the range...
... fortunately, on returning to Canberra, My Rainbow-Dreams café was still open for the remnants of the team to enjoy a late lunch!
From the start this morning, Team B had gone straight to the GumBABY event, hosted by the ULTRA Mediocre Runners of Canberra ...
The GumBABY is a little brother of the club's traditional last-man-standing GUMBY race. The GumBABY is held over only 8 laps of the 6.67km course through the forest near Blue Range Hut in the Brindabellas.
The team, ran the 1st lap of the race with the Peace Torch...
Team C meanwhile, had started running from the ACT/NSW border along Brindabella Rd. Kristin Tanner, Regimental Sergeant Major at Canberra's Duntroon – Royal Military College, started the team's journey into NSW.
Kristin handed the Torch to Dr. Kim Houghton, economist, author, runner and peace lover.
Kim’s partner Simone Annis, local Canberra painter, carried the torch the next 10km.
The final kilometres were run by our International Peace Run team.
Teams B and C then rejoined in Tumut ...
... where we finished by meeting locals at the Tumut Falling Leaves Festival, including the Lions Club who were promoting a worldwide Art for Peace contest.
The Peace Run team took part in Tumut's Falling Leaves Festival parade ...
... where many locals were more than happy to hold the Peace Torch.
Gratitude to Tumut Valley Holiday Park for accommodating our entire team, where we enjoyed a very sound night's sleep!
