Runners Pass Torch Along 11,000-Mile Route in Milbank and Ortonville Today

The Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run, an international torch relay, is coming to Milbank and Ortonville. The relay will cover 85 miles in the afternoon of July 5, running from Andover to Ortonville on Route12-E and passing the Peace Torch along the way.

“Peace Run will be coming through Milbank around 3:20 pm Thursday, July 5^th. The group will be stopping at the Visitors Center.  The Runners want to meet with town representatives, and people interested in spreading peace,” stated Laurie Folk of The Milbank Area Chamber. Locals will get to meet the runners, hold the torch and express their own hopes and dreams for a more harmonious world.

The Peace Run will be at Lakeside Park in Ortonville at 5:30 pm. The team will then stay overnight in Milbank. 

They encourage anyone to join them on their run along US Hwy 12. For more information please go to www.peacerun.org

The international team is from seven countries and will be on the road four months in an over 11,000-mile relay to promote peace, harmony, and friendship. An estimated 50,000 children in over 1,000 cities and towns on the North American route are expected to participate.

The team left New York City in April. The continuous relay links the United States, Mexico, and Canada before arriving back in New York in mid August. The European relay started in Bulgaria in February and will end in Portugal in October. It covers 16,000 miles.

Since 1987, the Peace Run has traversed over 150 nations throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Over six million people have participated. Commendations have come from world figures including Pope Francis, President Nelson Mandela, President Mikhail Gorbachev, and Mother Teresa.

Carl Lewis, a nine-time Olympic gold-medalist, said, “By carrying the Torch, you will be bridging cultural and social barriers, and all the boundaries that separate nation from nation. You will be the living proof of the ancient vision of having a beautiful and harmonious world.”