Peace Run for Imatra 30.7. Come run for peace!

Runners arrive at Imatra from the direction of Ruokolahti. The Imatra section starts at the Puntala underpass at 13.00:15.00 p.m. and the procession is in Koskenpartaa at around XNUMX:XNUMX p.m. You can join the run from anywhere along the route. Those who wish can also run with a peace torch in hand.

At Kosenparta, runners from different countries present running and its idea to the public. Welcome to run or watch and enjoy the international atmosphere!

The Peace Run continues the next day to the Russian side.

Please find Peace Run's Imatra route on the map.

Peace Run - champion Anne Leinonen encourages everyone to participate

Helsinki Anne Leinonen participated in the Peace Run for the first time already in 1991.

Leinonen has been running in the USA and most European countries. In 1999, he was running for no less than seven months in different parts of Europe, when the Peace Run was organized as a year-long event. The turn of the millennium was of course celebrated in London.

Running is not necessarily very familiar to the general public, says Anne Leinonen.

- This has always been a typically grassroots event, which mostly the runners themselves know about. A group of runners can be said to be some kind of loose community with several thousand people.

- Peace run visits a lot of schools, meets representatives of cities and organizations. Depending on the country, different partners are involved. In the Yankees, there were a lot of afternoon clubs of all kinds. You may have visited monasteries in Asia. It really depends on the country.

- In Finland, we pretty much run in nature when we are on the move in the summertime and schools are closed. The run has still been well received. Foreigners think it's worth coming here in the summer, when the weather is favorable.

- Anne urges everyone who is interested to bravely participate in the run and carry the torch.

International Peace Run

The international Peace Run event is a global torch relay that aims to strengthen international friendship and harmony through running. This Peace Run, organized for almost 30 years, is the world's largest and longest grassroots sports event for peace. Globally, the run reaches a total of more than 100 countries on all continents.

The Peace Run has a simple message: The first step is yours! The visible symbol of the run is a burning torch carried in the hand in Olympic style. This torch unites different nations, peoples and people as it passes from one person to another and from one country to another. Finland has participated in the Peace Run since its beginning in 1987.

The torch relay is a non-political event intended for ordinary people, which aims to strengthen togetherness and friendship, e.g. through exercise. Participation in the event is free of charge.

In Europe, it is estimated that tens of thousands of people will participate in the run. Anyone who wants to can participate in the run when it arrives in the community. You can carry the torch just a few steps, a few blocks or a few kilometers. The run includes a core group of European runners throughout the European leg.

In 2016, the run will take place in all continents during the year, more than 100 countries in total. In Europe, an international running team of about 15 people goes around an 8-month long run, visiting 47 European countries. The message started in Lisbon in February and ends in Rome in October. The runners will arrive in Finland on July 24 from Sweden. This year, the relay travels from Vaasa via Jyväskylä to Imatra, where the Finnish part ends on July 31. The message from Imatra continues to Russia. The patron of the Finnish event in 2016 is MP Erkki Tuomioja.

The initiator of the run is Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007), an Indian philosopher, writer and artist who worked for the harmony of humanity. Volunteers, contact persons living along the running route, who are in cooperation with representatives of different cities and communities, are responsible for the practical implementation of the run.

Read more about the Peace Run.