The World Harmony Run

This Sunday morning, I got involved in the World Harmony Run, a run for world harmony and peace. It is a worldwide run, where participants do their part to run in a group, holding a harmony torch and flag, and visiting places of worship to get blessings for world peace.

Arrived with Brokie and Divey at 7.15am to MacRitchie Reservoir. A large group of people have already gathered, all donning the very nice World Harmony Run (WHR) singlet. Reported to the resgistration table, met up with Yap and Akira, collected my running singlet. Had a nice chat with SgRunners and also MFRunners like Karen, Johnny and Alan Yeo. Met a few new SgRunners like acleong, Patrick Chia and Charlotte...great to finally have met them. After a brief by Yap and a rehearsal of the WHR Song, we took off along Thomson Road towards Kong Meng San Temple. The weather was cool, but was humid. By the time we reached the first stop, many of us were drenched. We took off our shoes and went into the temple to receive blessings and prayers by the monks. We proceeded next to the Salvation Army along Bishan. From the Salvation Army, we went on The Burmese Temple and then on to Sun Yat Sen Memorial just next door. It was a eye opener for me as I have never entered these establishments in the past, and I relish the good experience. By the time we reached the next 2 stops, we had run for about 11km. After taking some food and drinks, we moved on to the Ceylon Sports Club where we watched a DVD about how the World Harmony Run is being celebrated in other countries. We proceeded to run to 2 Hindu Temples, again receiving blessings and prayers from the temples, with refreshments being served. The morning's weather was still good, with cloudy skies.




We visited the Civil Service Club HQ next, and thats where Akira decided to leave us for a meeting at the CSC itself. Akira was injured, and did not really run too much during this whole run. He had provided good support and explanations of the background and practices of the WHR; very valuable insights. At each of these visits, a framed certificate of appreciation would be presented to the hosts in recognition of their support for the event, as well as photos taken. At the CSC, a letter from Dr. Amy Khor in support of the WHR in Singapore, was read out by Brokie, our representative. We moved on from CSC to the Central Sikh Temple. This would be the last stop, before making a run of about 15km all the way through ECP, Fort Road, Kallang/Esplanade and then The Merlion. From the Sikh Temple, I took over the carrying of the torch, with Sotong carrying the WHR flag.

We ran a good pace all the way towards Marine Parade, where we met up with the SgRunners whom had finished their Biathlon event at Sentosa in the morning. There was a big group of them, and the meeting of the 2 groups were an happy occasion for all. The biathlon people were showing us their very nice T-shirts and finisher medals. After a good water break, some of them joined us to make a larger group to run into East Coast Park. It was a nice run at ECP, and as we ran, people were waving and acknowledging us. As we neared Fort Road, we were hit by heavy rains, but we continued our journey with purpose. When we reached Fort Road, there was no rain anymore, but my shoes were feeling soggy. I took over the flag from there, and continued to run along Kallang/Stadium road. We made a quick stop along the way, where I passed the flag to someone else. We ran towards The Esplanade, and with about 3.5km to go, we spotted a group of VJC students taking a rest from their kayaking. We spoke with them about our mission, and got some of us to pose for pictures with the students. We hope they will spread the message of world harmony next. With just 3km to go, the spirits were high. As we ran towards The Esplanade, we were greeted with loud cheers from many groups of people along the way.

The last 1km to the Merlion was filled with joy and happiness. We were coming to an end of a hard day's run, and all were happy as we were doing it for a good cause. The run ended with many thanks and appreciation for one another, as well as nice photos with The Merlion. We had covered 35km in 7hrs, quite a mean feat, especially the final 2 hours of rain and sun. As we bidded one another goodbye, we were already reflecting the morning's run and how we have managed to spread the message of world harmony around. I look forward to doing this run again next year, hopefully with an even bigger group of WHR advocates...Hip Hip Hooray!