When I first heard the message of the founder of the run, Sri Chinmoy, and the whole philosophy behind it, that peace starts in the heart of each one of us and that the most powerful thing we can do for the world is to find peace inside ourselves and then to share that with humanity.”

Harita Davies

The Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run, an international torch relay, made its way through the Hastings area on Tuesday, July 23. The group originally planned to pass through town on Monday but were delayed a day. They started the run at Walgreens in Hastings and travelled east on 10th Street to Ravenna Trail enroute to Winona.
The Peace Run was inspired by visionary Sri Chinmoy to give citizens a dynamic way to express their own hopes and dreams for a more harmonious world. An athlete, philosopher, artist, musician and poet, Sri Chinmoy dedicated his life to advancing the ideals of world harmony and said, “How can we have peace? Not by talking about peace, but by walking along the road of peace.”
The group that started in Hastings were four runners, New Zealand’s Preetiditta Thorpe and Harita Davies, Ruslana Kupinets from Ukraine and Anna Khimchinskaia from Russia. For the four-month run, there are over 60 runners on 20 teams.
Harita Davies took some time to give her personal account of being part of the Peace Run. Davies did her first Peace Run back in 1997 in her home country of New Zealand.
“I found out about it, and I thought it seemed like an inspiring thing to do. Then after the first time I did it, I really felt like this is for me, this is a great thing,” she said. “When I first heard the message of the founder of the run, Sri Chinmoy, and the whole philosophy behind it, that peace starts in the heart of each one of us and that the most powerful thing we can do for the world is to find peace inside ourselves and then to share that with humanity. We don't have to feel like we need to do something really huge to make a difference to the world. We can start with ourselves, and the world is made up of individual people and I really found that to be a really empowering message and it helped me a lot to feel like there was something that I could do and that I could have a purpose in the world.”
That empowerment inspired her to join additional Peace Runs which has led her through several countries and all 50 US States.
“I have met people from all different places. I have really seen, and really know in my heart that humanity is so good. There is so much goodness in the world and no matter what culture you are, we all are so similar when it comes down to the things that we really value in life,” Davies added.
The route of the Peace Run is coordinated by a team of people working tirelessly to honor Sri Chinmoy’s legacy. This year’s route included a portion of southern Canada from Vancouver through Saskatchewan and Manitoba before crossing back into the US at International Falls, MN. The Peace Run focuses on the message of peace and sharing that message with as many people as possible. They visit schools, boy’s and girl’s clubs and community events all to engage people and share the torch with non-runners. It is surprisingly light, by the way.
They do not necessarily run the entire route. Sometimes, like along interstates in major cities, there is just not a safe way to run. They utilize vans and other support vehicles to ensure the safety of the runners, they stay at a variety of locations like hotels, campgrounds, and anyplace they can get donated lodging accommodations are preferred to help save on the cost.
“I've been to all 50 states in America on the peace run, and it is very interesting. America is such a huge country and has such a diverse landscape and people, but at the same time, there's something really quintessentially American about all of the people that you meet, which is amazing. It is kind of similar to the world as well that we have all these really different cultures. But there's something really similar about us and Americans, I feel like they have big hearts and a lot of enthusiasm,” she said.
In just one short week from their passing through Hastings, the teams were already in the Detroit, Michigan area on the home stretch of the run. Learn more at www.peacerun.org.