Moscow, Russia—On the national holiday known as Russia Day, the Peace Road initiative was observed with the start of a 14-day super-marathon.
On June 12, 2016, a group of 45 long-distance runners—15 adults and 30 children—met outside the walls of the Kremlin at the spot called Kilometer Zero (the center of Moscow) for a rally before the start of the marathon.
Within 14 days, the runners were scheduled to cover a distance of more than 1,100 kilometers (more than 683 miles). The marathon route followed the roads of eight states of the Russian Federation. Starting from the center of Moscow, the runners proceeded to the towns or cities of Sergiyev Posad, Kalyazin, Uglich, Myshkin, Rybinsk, Tutayev, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Furmanov, Shuya, Palekh, Chkalovsk, Gorodets, Nizhny Novgorod, Suzdal, Noginsk, and Elektrostal before returning to Moscow (Poklonnaya Gora).
The team members came from Moscow and the Moscow region, the regions of Bryansk, Ivanovo, Yaroslavl and Nizhny Novgorod, and even the Republic of Belarus. Dmitry Samko, secretary general of UPF-Moscow, also joined the team, ready to overcome all the hardships along this difficult path.
The marathon was organized by UPF-Russia together with "I Choose Sport!," a group that regularly runs super-marathons to aid charitable organizations. In addition to this project, UPF-Russia’s Peace Road campaign included a number of other events this year.
At the rally to start the marathon, Konstantin Krylov, regional secretary general of UPF of Eurasia, handed the Peace Road flag to Sergey Suprunyuk, director of "I Choose Sport!" Mr. Krylov congratulated the participants on the start of the marathon. He emphasized that the essence of the Peace Road initiative is abolishing boundaries so that humankind can live as one global family.
UPF-Russia would like to thank the participants of the marathon and to wish success to all the activities of the Peace Road project in Russia this year!