July 12, 2014 Live from the road

Russell (MB) - Onanole (MB)

Reported by Arpan DeAngelo 70.0 mi

We are very grateful to The Russell Inn for the wonderful accommodations they offered our whole team last night in Russell, Manitoba. This is the premiere place for accommodations in the area.

One team of men were on the road early in the morning to carry the torch east today.

Salil runs a hill on the long straight stretches of highway today.

Sandro, from Italy, enjoys the peace of the natural surroundings and quiet roads on a Sunday morning.

Dennis expresses his peace in his early morning run.

Salil is happy to be out here surrounded by the beauty and splendour of Central Canada.

Endless fields of yellow blossoming Canola plants.

Lots of rain has made everything deep green and fresh.

Flowers abound as we make our way east to Rossburn.

Dennis has his hands full after cleaning the vehicles' torches.

Mahasatya (Poland) and Arpan (NYC) run the torch into downtown Rossburn.

Groups of local peace lovers begin to gather for our ceremony this morning.

Mayor Shirley Kalyniuk accepts the Torch in Rossburn.

Salil offers Mayor Kalyniuk on behalf of all the citizens of Rossburn our Certificate of Appreciation.

The torch is passed to everyone who came and wished to make a wish or prayer for Peace and harmony.

Bob, a local EMS officer, shares the torch with our Ukranian runner, Amburoha. Bob's ancestry is also Ukranian. Many parts of this area of Manitoba were settled by Ukranian immigrants in the 19th Century.

Some of our Rossburn friends join our Peace Run team around the Peace Tree that was planted here in June to honour the Peace Run and its Founder, Sri Chinmoy.

Some of the very friendly townspeople were happy to acquire our official T-shirt.

One of the youngest memebers of today's event.

Shirley cuts the first pieces of this huge cake made especially for our visit here.

Official pins were also given by this great town

Officer Marc-Andre Dube from the RCMP had a birthday today. He also escorted us with his police caras we ran out from the ceremony

Happy Birthday to Officer Marc Dube.

Yatakara, our main photographer, is in familiar pose as Mayor Kalyniuk gets ready for her run out of town.

Mayor Shirley Kalyniuk dons a new Peace Run shirt and then leads us on a run our from the center of town

Much gratitude for the enthusiastic support and kindness of Mayor Shirley Kalyniuk and the residents of Rossburn.

They brought lots of happy smiles to our team this morning

The women's team is now ready to run their section of the course to our next destination.

One of our Ukaranian runners, Amburoha, proudly runs past the Ukranian Museum sign. Many settlers here were from Ukraine over 100 years ago.

After the ceremony one team got to wash the RV. Lots of bugs have joined the Peace Run on our vehicles as we drive and run many miles across these beautiful and vast prairie lands

Horses and other beautiful creatures also share the green, lush lands here in Central Canada.

Hitting the wide open roads again to our next destination.

Sometimes we are accompanied by local birds protecting their nests

Arpan jumps for joy over an oncoming truck.

Mahasatya from Poland runs strongly on the wide open roads.

Kanala on her final run before having to leave for home.

The skies became dark with heavy rain clouds as a fast moving storm came through.

The skies cleared by the time we made it to Riding Mountain National Park and Clear Lake.

This huge park is a very popular attraction for tourists and locals during the summer months.

Our team offers a ceremony to the wonderful people gathered here.

Introducing the Peace Run to some very curious park-goers.

People of all ages came to enjoy this wonderful park and be part of our ceremony.

Salil, Executive Director of the Peace Run, demonstrates the Australian kangaroo hop for the crowd to guess where he is from.

Holding our peace 'torches' high during one of our songs.

Feeling peace in the heart.

The torch is passed to everyone to offer their wishes, thoughts or prayers for peace.

Valerie Pankratz cheerfully holds the torch and offers some kind words. She is the Executive Director of Riding Mountain Biosphere Reserve, a U.N. designated Reserve. There are 621 such protected Reserves across the world.

The smiles of children gives us our motivation to keep the torch of peace moving forwards year after year.

Their hopes and dreams for a more peaceful world are most valuable assets for the future of this lovely planet.

Hussein, a local student here and gardener at the park helps us to plant a young Peace Tree.

We are joined by Valerie Pankratz, James Gordon and Mark Young of Riding Mountain National Park.

Mark Young, Acting Superintendent of Riding Mountain National Park, offers his kind words as he dedicates a row of Peace benches after the Peace Tree ceremony.

The chilling winds picked up as we passed the torch to Mark.

This lovely row of benches overlooks the very large and beautiful Clear Lake.

This pristine park has wondeful gardens including this Memorial to its veterans.

Our Slovakian and Ukaranian runners enjoy a sunny spot by the bilingual sign for the park.

Kanala generously treated us to some homemade Gelato at the Park, as she is leaving for home tomorrow.

It was a delicious treat after a long day.

For a little exercise Mahasatya decides to roll up some hay in his spare time.

Job well done.

At one point we were delayed for almost a half hour by a stalled train across the tracks.

Our R.V. (Recreational Vehicle) stands out among the long line of stalled vehicles waiting for the train to move.

Yatkara took the opportunity to work on the photos for today.

We eventually made it to Winnipeg where we were able to settle comfortably for the night into the home of our good friends there.

Torch carried by
Amburoha Davydova (Ukraine), Arpan DeAngelo (United States), Dennis Gribok (Luxembourg), Kanala Bolvanska (Slovakia), Kaneenika Janakova (Slovakia), Mahasatya Janczak (Poland), Prapti Jensen (Canada), Salil Wilson (Australia), Sandro Zincarini (Italy), Yatkara Aleksapolskyy (Canada).  
Photographers
Arpan DeAngelo, Prapti Jensen, Salil Wilson, Sandro Zincarini, Yatkara Aleksapolskyy
The torch has travelled 70.0 mi from Russell (MB) to Onanole (MB).

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