The World Harmony Run torch has been held by some of the foremost figures, such as Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, and Mikhail Gorbachev. The Run is also actively supported by top athletes such as 9-time Olympian Carl Lewis, Olympic gold medallist Tatyana Lebedeva and former marathon record holder Tegla Laroupe. Read more...

Photos from Ireland

In 2001, President Mary McAleese invites the WHR to Aras an Uachtaráin.

Former president Mary Robinson recieves the Torch from schoolchildren. Below is a photograph of a more recent meeting with Sri Chinmoy, the late founder of the World Harmony Run founder; Sri Chinmoy is presenting her with an award for her tireless service as UNHCR High Commissioner.

Catherina McKiernan, four-time World Cross-Country silver medallist and world record holder for the fastest women's debut marathon, holds the torch with members of our international team.

Olympic medallist Sonia O Sullivan takes a moment during the 2006 London Run to hold the torch with our Irish coordinator Ambarish Keenan.

The World Harmony Run is just one of a number of initiatives which its founder, Sri Chinmoy, brought into being over the years in an effort to bring about a better world. In 1973 and 1974, he met with the then Presidents Eamon de Valera (meeting pictured below) and Erskine Childers, and had a very hearfelt and inspiring discussion with them. President de Valera remarked how grateful he was for this visit in the evening of his life. Thirty-three years later, the World Harmony Run met with his granddaughter, Minister of State Síle de Valera.