A beautiful sunrise start in Minneapolis, city of thirteen lakes. We met up with long-time and new running friends to set off on a 15-mile scenic run.
Yuyudhan, the local coordinator for the day welcomes everyone to Minneapolis and introduces some new faces.
Danny Ripka is a legend in the ultra-running world, having run several 100-mile races, 24-hour races, 50-mile and 100kms. He became a good friend of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team when he won the Sri Chinmoy six-day race in New York in 2005, running 478 miles.
Hilda is a running friend of Danny and Yuyudhan's. She loves running and will complete five marathon's this year.
Our friend Ismail leads us out.
Ismail's daughter, Tulin is our youngest Peace Runner today, at nine years of age, she cheerfully leads the team alongside the canoe club.
Yuyudhan from Minneapolis has been a Peace Runner and coordinator for over 30 years. He planned our run today to be following the route the Twin Cities Marathon runs, often termed "The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America". Yuyudhan is also the creator, maker and distributor of Prana kombucha, which our team thoroughly enjoyed and abundantly consumed during our stay- thank you!
We were delighted to be joined by Marjorie who was celebrating her birthday today, running with the Peace Run. It was an honor to share her special day running for peace together.
Minnehaha Park is one of Minneapolis' oldest and most popular parks, attracting over 850,000 visitors annually. A 193-acre park containing oak, elm, silver maple, basswood, hackberry and cottonwood trees, as well as limestone bluffs, rivers and a waterfall. Beautiful running!!
We reach the Minnehaha Falls, a striking 53-foot wilderness waterfall right in the middle of Minneapolis.
So many friendly people.
Yuyudhan shares some facts about the Peace Run to a very interested audience.
They all loved peace and were eager to hold the Peace Torch.
Hilda's vibrant energy and quick pace allowed her to carry the torch for several miles. Not only did she run with us, but Hilda also most generously sponsored delicious Vietnamese sandwiches from her family's restaurant for the team after the run- thank you Hilda!!
Danny was excited to lead us past his Pickleball club and get everyone to hold the torch.
We have new members joining our team to run us all the way to New York. Dalibor from Slovakia is a great addition to the team.
Very friendly people along our way who loved the concept of the Peace Run.
Working hard for the community but always a moment to feel peace.
Ruslana from Ukraine has also joined the team and will stay all the way to New York.
As we were running we came across a group of very cool kids who were having snack time at their Lake Nokomis summer camp.
Gianluca, our Peace Runner from Croatia, living in Dublin, told the kids about the Peace Run.
Feeling peace and then imagining it spreading all over the world.
Some have their own fun ways of feeling peace.
Edgars is from Latvia.
We all had a chance to hold the torch.
Running with the Peace Runners.
The smiling teachers love to run too.
Back on the trail, lead by local guide Danny, who seems to know these running trails like the back of his hand. Many miles of training around here we suspect.
At mile ten we reach the bridge that links the two cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, often known as the Twin Cities. This bridge was dedicated as a Sri Chinmoy Peace Bridge in 1991 by the City Council Presidents of both Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
The bridge spans the mighty Mississippi.
Danny's wife, Pat was waiting to greet us all at the bridge.
This is where we say goodbye to Hilda, for now. But before we ran on, she gave us a lot of joy by unravelling her longer-than-the-longest hair!!!
Also a big thank-you to Danny-The-Great and his wonderful wife Pat. Danny is also a potter, and he very kindly gave us a most exquisitely beautiful bowl he made. Danny, you are an inspiration for many. Keep running and spreading your goodness!
The team continue running the last five miles over the great Mississippi river to Saint Paul.
New smiling faces in St Paul.
There is always time for another coffee with this men's team!
We happily reached our destination for the day, Rice Park in Saint Paul and were pleasantly met by two very dear friends of peace-runner, Olivia. Matilde and Victor drove one hour from their home to be there in time to welcome the team to Saint Paul. We sang our song to them which they seemed very touched by.
Thank you Matilde and Victor for your sincere and heartfelt reception to end our run linking the twin cities.
A fantastic day of running through Minneapolis with such great people has to be celebrated with the best icecream in town!! This was a special treat from the very kind Ismail and his daughter, Tulin. Thank you Ismail and Tulin for the joy!
