Sanctuary Runners athletes join initiative to promote 'Global Solidarity Run'

Delegates from 30 countries were among those who gathered on the wooden ring surrounding the event centre in Osaka to run 5km in the morning heat as part of the solidarity run launch.

A group of fitness enthusiasts has made the world their running track with a unique solidarity initiative launched at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan.

Now in its second year, the purpose of the Global Solidarity Run is to enable people across the world to run, jog, walk or roll on Saturday, October 11, in solidarity with those who are forcibly displaced or living in extreme poverty. 

The initiative is the brainchild of the Sanctuary Runners, which was founded in Cork in 2018 to unite refugees, asylum seekers and migrants through running, jogging and walking.

The World Expo in Osaka, officially known as Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, is a large-scale international event taking place from April 13 to October 13, 2025, on Yumeshima Island in Osaka Bay. 

This year's theme is 'Designing Future Society for Our Lives' which focuses on co-creation and collaboration to create a sustainable future. The event will showcase exhibits and cultural displays from over 160 participating countries. 

Graham Clifford, Sanctuary Runners founder and head of international development, is in Osaka for the run. He described the significance of their participation in the World Expo in Osaka.

“To bring so many people of influence together in one location and extol the virtues of solidarity, friendship and respect for, and with, all in our world is very important," he said. 

"Now, more than ever, we need to stand up and demand that people are treated with decency and humanity. The overriding themes of world expos down through the decades have been looking to the future and we believe it’s just intrinsic that valuing humanity is at the centre of that - what good is innovation without humanity?" 

The Sanctuary Runners is proud as an Irish organisation to carry that message far and wide, he added. "To find ways to bring people together with a clear humanitarian purpose. This is an extension of the work we have been doing in Ireland for seven-and-a-half years now." 

The not-for-profit organisation will also hold a promotional run and walk with EU Commissioner Michael McGrath in Brussels later in the summer to raise awareness of its work.

Delegates from 30 countries were among those who gathered on the wooden ring surrounding the event centre in Osaka to run 5km in the morning heat as part of the solidarity run launch. A delegation from the United Nations donated a replica of the iconic Peace Bell which rang out three times before participants kicked off the event.

The World Expo in Osaka, officially known as Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, is a large-scale international event taking place from April 13 to October 13, 2025, on Yumeshima Island in Osaka Bay. 

Mr Maher Nasser, assistant secretary general of the United Nations and Mr Ichinoki Manatsu, deputy secretary general of the Expo 2025 Association, could be seen in the crowds. 

Japan, Ireland, Armenia, Australia, Guatemala and Italy are just some of the countries represented. Also flying the flag are the UK, Portugal, Slovakia, Colombia, Luxembourg, the United Nations delegation and Slovenia. 

The USA, Malaysia, Cuba, Grenada, Latvia, Korea, the Netherlands, Palestine and Kazakhstan also feature. This is in addition to Germany, the Dominican Republic, and Malta.