SATURDAY 10th MAY 2008
FROM 4pm TO 5pm IN EACH TIME ZONE
THE YOUTH FOR UNITY OF THE FOCOLARE MOVEMENT
PRESENT THE 2ND EDITION OF THE WORLDWIDE RELAY RACE
"RUN4UNITY"
A SPORTS EVENT TO PROMOTE AND BUILD PEACE TOGETHER

After the first edition that saw the participation of over 100,000 teenagers in 340 cities of 89 nations, teenagers of many cultures, races and religions will run united once again in prominent and significant locations around the planet in order to symbolically extend a rainbow of fraternity over the world.

In Rome, 2000 teenagers, with representations from 5 continents, will transmit their event via Internet and satellite and will be linked up live with the unfolding of events around the world.

As part of the transmission from Rome, the teenagers are also organising a worldwide Expo on fraternity showcasing concrete projects of the "Let's Colour the City" initiative which is promoted by "Youth for Unity" in various countries around the world.

The young people from the Pacific island of Fiji will kick off the event at 4pm in their time zone.
At 5pm, by means of an internet link, they will pass the baton on to the next time zone.
Over the course of the next 24 hours, the baton will pass through locations of every latitude and in each location personalities from the world of sport, culture, as well as civic and religious leaders will participate.

The sports activities will take place in locations symbolic of peace, or near areas of conflict and war, or in places of strong tension. They will run on the equator, in great capital cities.
Wherever they run their objective is to witness to their commitment to construct unity and peace.

Run4unity 2008 will also represent a worldwide Expo of fraternity by means of which hundreds of "Let's Colour the City" projects will be showcased. This initiative, launched by the Young People for Unity in 2005, aims at colouring with love those "grey corners" of our cities: retirement homes, orphanages, immigrant communities, public areas that need to be cleaned up, shanty town areas, etc. All of this is done in agreement with the appropriate authorities, and all of these projects are linked together through a website (http://www.teens4unity.net).
The teenagers who promote and get involved in these projects are protagonists of an active citizenship and promoters of a future of peace and unity among peoples.

The internet and satellite transmission from Rome of Run4unity 2008 will give the possibility of following the baton as it passes through all of the areas where the teenagers, with their artistic activities, games and testimonies of life, will give witness to the conviction that the encounter of cultures and religions not only is possible, but is already a reality in many places throughout the world.

Run4unity 2008 will conclude with a choreography employing the symbol of light, an expression of the love which can help brighten the small and greater nights of individual people and the world itself.