UN sponsors "Peace Run" In Mogadishu

The United Nations Sport for Peace Programme for Somalia in collaboration with the Somali Olympic Committee has organised five peace runs in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a UN press release said on Friday. The "Peace Run" would start on 12 November, and would include men, women, and children from every age group, said the release. The release quotes Philippe Gourdin, the Sports for Peace Coordinator, as saying: "We have already registered more than 1,000 runners, including 400 children."

The races will be respectively of 5,000, 3,000, 2,000, 1,500 and 1,000 metres. According to he release, the 5,000-metre race will start at Bakaaraha market junction on Wadnaha Street in south of the city, through the former green line into north Mogadishu, and end at the old Mogadishu stadium. The 1,000- 3,000-km races will start from the Warshadaha Street in the south, also through the former green line, and end at the stadium. Two women's races - those of 2,000 and 1,500 metres, would take place inside the stadium, said the release.

"A Peace Run represents the opportunity for all Somalis to openly express (through actions not words) their desire for peace in their homeland, in a completely peaceful manner," the release said. It went on to say that the Peace Run was not a protest of any sort, nor a platform for any individual or political party to express their political views.

Participants would receive a Sports for Peace T-shirt, while winners would get cash prizes ranging from US$ 40, 30, 20 for first, second and third place respectively, said the release.