What for me began as a dream last November is now becoming a reality. Early Saturday morning I took-off from rainy Detroit to arrive 90 minutes later in summery Albany, New York. The flight was uneventful and at the baggage claim area we were awaited and welcomed by Ignition staff members. After an airport lunch we boarded the passenger-van to travel to Lake Placid. The route to the Olympic village was scenic and the Adirondack Mountain range with its deep blue water lakes, presented under a sunny sky, made for some picture perfect moments. My farewells at home over the last several days were wonderful and the hellos and reunion with the team at the village were equally exhilarating.
Boot camp is what it is, and we are busy preparing for the kick-off on Friday morning. Hands-on, and classroom style instructions, presentations, photo-shoots and team building exercises are on the agenda. We used the Olympic gym and massage center and learned the finer art of massage, fleurage and effleurage, and became familiar with some alternate stretches for our pre- and post runs. Yesterday the sports psychologist taught us our Blue planet anthem, a beautiful song of giving light, teaching peace, standing together and giving hope. We sang our heart's content and then last night from 9:00 till midnight we topped it off with a practice run through the surroundings of the Lake Placid Olympic village.
While on the global run, we will pass through a little under 1,500 exchange points, where the baton is passed from one relay runner to the next. Here media and curious locals can gather, meet and greet the runners, and hear the run message that will be recited during the exchange. It is here that we hope to touch as many people as we can on our planet route, to share and to invite people to give enlightenment and purpose to over a billion people that do not have safe drinking water today. It is here that we come together and give hope!
The Blue Planet Run Message
By Adrian Lurssen
We run like water. We run FOR water.
Boot camp is what it is, and we are busy preparing for the kick-off on Friday morning. Hands-on, and classroom style instructions, presentations, photo-shoots and team building exercises are on the agenda. We used the Olympic gym and massage center and learned the finer art of massage, fleurage and effleurage, and became familiar with some alternate stretches for our pre- and post runs. Yesterday the sports psychologist taught us our Blue planet anthem, a beautiful song of giving light, teaching peace, standing together and giving hope. We sang our heart's content and then last night from 9:00 till midnight we topped it off with a practice run through the surroundings of the Lake Placid Olympic village.
While on the global run, we will pass through a little under 1,500 exchange points, where the baton is passed from one relay runner to the next. Here media and curious locals can gather, meet and greet the runners, and hear the run message that will be recited during the exchange. It is here that we hope to touch as many people as we can on our planet route, to share and to invite people to give enlightenment and purpose to over a billion people that do not have safe drinking water today. It is here that we come together and give hope!
The Blue Planet Run Message
By Adrian Lurssen
We run like water. We run FOR water.
We run to bring news to every person in every town we pass through—urgent news of a crisis that affects one in five of all of us on this earth.
We run to remember the sons and daughters, the mothers and fathers, the 6,000 human beings who die every day, because they lack safe drinking water.
We run because time, and water – essential to our existence – is running out for all of us.
We run to tell a story that begins with suffering but ends with hope.
We run to include you in the story. You are the solution. Commitment is our only obstacle.
We run to tell a story that ends like this: twenty years from now we will have joined together to bring water – to bring life – to 200 million people around the world.
We run because, in the words of the Iroquois thanksgiving prayer printed on the baton we carry with us: “Water is life.”
“We give thanks to all the Waters of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms - waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the spirit of water.
Now our minds are one.”
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