This week the Peace Run would have gone from the border town of Sarnia, Ontario all the way to Montreal, Quebec. Passing through the major cities Toronto, Kingston and Ottawa and running past Niagara Falls, one of the wonders of the world!
Four out of the five Great Lakes lap onto the shores of the province of Ontario, and the Peace Run has, over the years, visited hundreds of communities, north, south, east and west!
Here, one of our Toronto Peace Runners, Rajeshwari, is pictured at the foot of the famous CN tower.
Karnayati overlooking Lake Ontario at the Harbourfront Ferry Docks and enthusiastically looking forward to her run!
Sravana, who has logged as many as 110 miles a week for the virtual Run, is sending her oneness-heart to the Peace Run from her route in Guelph.
Kaushalya is the unseen force behind every Peace Run project in Toronto!
Annapurna Restaurant has welcomed and richly nourished the Peace Runners for close to 33 years. The owners Shivaram and Devavira, and several staff, are sending their greetings to the runners - wish you were here!
Sending peace from Burk's Falls, Ontario: Wyatt, Ryu, Norah, Madeleine, Emma, Hana and Marlee.
In Kingston, Peace Runners Hladini and Kala hold the torch up high!
On a sunny morning, our Kingston Peace Run coordinators, Paramita and Hladini, took the Peace Torch to a path in front of Lake Ontario and shared the Peace Torch with passersby as they invited them to reflect on peace for a moment.
Anavi and Jan.
Susanna Davis, a holistic health practitioner, held the torch with her partner Lee.
Richard Piner from London, Ontario shared his reflection on peace:
"Peace is a place where there is laughter and quiet moments where you enjoy being grateful for the blessings you have."
Brahmata and Laurel ran some of their peace kilometres in Gananoque, in the Thousand Islands area beside the mighty St. Lawrence River.
Richard is the father of Pushparani, our Peace Runner from Ottawa!
They spotted some lovely swans on their running route.
On the day that the Peace Run would have been in Ottawa, Brahmata, Lalitha and Hajar ran a few miles through the city, on a scenic waterside trail.
In one of the neighborhoods they ran through, they spotted a "Quarantine Boredom Art Gallery" that someone had set up in the front window of their house.
They were joined by a few more Peace Runners who took their own route there.
In Montreal, Peace Runners Devaki and Vidura visited a Peace Tree at McGill University on the day that the Peace Run was scheduled to be in their city.
The final destination was a statue of Peace Run Founder, Sri Chinmoy on Bank St. in Old Ottawa South.
They also visited the Peace Tree at S. Joseph Oratory that had been inaugurated in 2018 by Father Grou and the International Peace Run Team.
Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, was one of the destinations for Purnakama's Peace Running across her province.
She visited this peace plaque which was installed in the summer of 2014 on a strip of benches facing the water.
In Neepawa, she visited the former home of Margaret Laurence, one of the major figures in Canadian literature, who founded the Writers' Trust of Canada.
The mascot for the town of Gladstone is "Happy Rock".
Meanwhile, Peace Runners in over 20 countries are also contributing miles to this year's North American Peace Run!
Kanyaka ran over 100 miles last week!
...which is not hard to believe once you see what her running shoes look like!
Marina is running her miles on the ocean boardwalk in San Diego.
Anjali, who is running her peace miles in New York City, shared the following message:
"Wherever we go, whatever we do, may we carry in our hearts the spirit of the Peace Run and share in the true joys of inclusiveness, mutual support and the oneness of humanity. May the Peace Torch continue to shine a light on the goodness in each individual. May we all recognize, love and celebrate that goodness in each other, no matter who we are, where we live, what we believe in. May the Peace Run inspire us all to work to fulfil the dream of a world where everyone can live and flourish, in peace and harmony. Gratitude to Peace Run Founder Sri Chinmoy for this unique expression of hope for the progress of humanity."
In Heidelberg, Germany some of our Peace Runners created origami peace cranes commemorating 75 years since the drop of the atom bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6 and 9 respectively).
"A heart of peace
Can fly
Far beyond all horizons."
- Sri Chinmoy
