Video of the Day

Today we had a big event in downtown San Francisco. Our team plus many locals ran a ceremonial distance from City Hall to Union Square.

The enthusiasm of the local runners was totally inspiring!

As we ran around Union Square, Grand Master Tanaka and San Francisco Taiko Dojo Drummers gave a powerful and dynamic performance.

Swami Vimalananda - Institute Director of Integral Yoga - opened the ceremony with a short meditation followed by a prayer.

Our emcee - Shambhu Neil Vineberg - was reunited with his very dear friend, Narada Michael Walden.

We were delighted to present Narada Michael Walden with the first Torch- Bearer Award of the day. Narada has been a huge supporter of the run since it's inception in 1987 as the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run. He played a pivotal role in launching the event, inspiring nine-time Olympic Gold Medalist Carl Lewis and E-street Saxophonist Clarence Clemons to join him in suporting the event.

Narada wrote the first theme song for the run and remarkably arranged for Whitney Houston to sing it. A true brother and friend we were delighted to have an opportunity to recognize and thank him for all that he has done over the years.

Hadeel Ramadan (pictured 2 above) and Simon Crew (pictured above) - both of Youth Speaks - offered some stirring and inspiring poetry.

Jayashri Wyatt - the event organizer - presented President of the San Francisco United Nations Association Kim Weichel with the Torch Bearer's Award for her outstanding work with the Institute for Peace Building.

We were graced with the perfromance of Lavay Smith - accompanied by Chris Seibert - the Queen of classic Jazz & Blues in the authentic style of the 1940's and 1950's.

Legendary surfer Surf Doc was also presented the Torch Bearer's Award for his contributions to world peace and harmony.

Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka received our Torch Bearer's Award in recognition for his supreme musicianship as the greatest cultural ambassador of Taiko drumming.

We were then wowed by an amazing performance from the Red Panda Acrobats. Please see our gallery for more shots of the unbelievable feats of strength and flexibility.

Finally, the young hip San Francisco rockers Joe and Jade of the Band Merch - an up and coming local favorite - performed a couple of their hits. They played the Great American Music Hall to enthusiastic crowds and great reviews.

Our hosts from the first night of the run - April 15th - happened to be in town visiting family, so they stopped by to enjoy the show. Always nice to see some familiar faces in the crowd!

We would like to offer our very special thanks to photographer Caesar Alexzander for taking such fantastic shots and giving our photographers a much needed break from behind the camera. (It was great just to be a part of the ceremony! - Atulya)

– Atulya

Distance: 1 miles

Team Members:
Salil Wilson (Australia), Shyamala Stott (Scotland), Banshidhar Medeiros (USA), Yuyudhan Hoppe (USA), Vilupti Barrineau (Canada), Micheala Pokorna (Czech Republic), Rabinath deLang (Netherlands), Vajra Henderson (USA), Homagni Baptista (Australia), Atulya Lee Berube (USA), Jeromy Cheatham (USA), Vasudah Deming (USA)

Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.

Gallery: See more images!