KUCHING: 3,000 runners took part in Run For Peace 2017 at City One Megamall here yesterday.
They are part of 80,000 runners taking part in a series of runs held in 19 locations nationwide between 14 July to 16 August .
Organised by Soka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM), the 8 Km run was flagged off by Political Secretary to Minister of Human Resources Dato’ Major Peter Runin, who represented Minister of Human Resources Dato’ Sri Richard Riot Jaem.
Also present was Soka Gakkai Malaysia Sarawak Branch chairman Tan Chai Hong.
The objective of the event is to inspire the people to be aware of the importance of taking action for peace and to create a culture of peace in community.
In conjunction with Sarawak Independence Day, this biennial community event was held both in Kuching and Sibu yesterday.
Meanwhile, in Sibu, 1,000 participants took part in a similar run which was flagged off by Sibu Resident Hee Chang Kee.
Run For Peace is one of SGM’s largest peace events.
It is a biennial community peace event which started in 2005 in Klang with 1,500 participants, it continued in 2007 and 2009 in Klang with 3,000 and 6,000 participants respectively.
In 2011, there were 15,000 participants who participated in Selangor, Johor and Penang simultaneously.
Just after two years in 2013, 57,000 peace lovers came together on 8 September at 14 locations nationwide to spread the message of peace.
Moving on to 2015, the participation grew to more than 90,000 peace lovers nationwide.
