Moscow, Russia - The “Hour of Running” program initiated in Urals region in 2008 by youth Peace Ambassadors was adopted by the Moscow City government this year as part of the Russian National Week of Goodness. Other cities took up the program even without UPF participation, and we do not know the extent of the program.

Irkutsk

Officially, the action “Hour of Running” in Irkutsk was held for the first time on April 21. There were altogether 20 participants from ages 7 to 50. The action was coordinated by Evgeny Rakityansky, leader of the Irkutsk chapter of UPF, and supported by the Center of Happy People.

The idea of the “Hour of Running” is simple: promoting healthy and moral life style through joint and regular one-hour relay races in public places. In Irkutsk, the action was held on the bank of the Angara River. People were invited through informational fliers and Internet. The action was supported by:

The city informational portal www.Irk.ru; (http://www.irk.ru/tourism/news/20110421/running/),
The local newspaper “Oblastnaya” (http://ogirk.ru/news/2011-04-22/beg.html)
The TV channel Weacom-TV (http://www.weacom.tv).

Through running we made new friends. Friendship gave us additional strength and much inspiration. After the action, participants stayed for photos and exchanged personal information. At the beginning, the “Hour of Running” was planned as a one-time event. But by the end of the day, the participants decided to run again on the following Sunday.

Tbilisi, Georgia

The appeal of the Hour of Running transcends national boundaries, and UPF-Georgia also sponsored an "Hour of Running" in the capital, Tbilisi.