Duna TV riport
A 7 perces riport itt letölthető: Kis méret (11 MB)
Az alábbiakban az interjú angol nyelvű fordítása olvasható.
The english translation of the interview: Interview with Máte Székely (coordinator of WHR in Hungary) and János Derekas (WHR participant)
Duna TV, live from the studio, Budapest, June 15.
Reporter: The World Harmony Run, the name, I think tells a lot, but whatever it does not tell, will be told by our guests, who are the protagonists of this initiative spanning the whole continent, or in fact the entire world. Máté Székely, the main organizer of the World Harmony Run, and János Derekas, who is one of the protagonists, as he has taken part in it, and will take part. So the first question is, what is it actually about?
Máté: The World Harmony Run is an international relay run that is organized in 70 countries of 5 continents. The European relay, the biggest of them started from Lisbon on 2 March and will end in Budapest on 28 October with a closing ceremony.
Reporter: So it started in Lisbon, and with a Hungarian participant, or participants. What does relay mean here? Do you run all across the whole continent or you take turns at certain intervals?
János: Both ways. In Europe it means 24 thousand kilometres. We are not professional runners, so after a few weeks we rotate.
Reporter: Well, that's not quite an amateur's achievement, if you run for a few weeks on end. If I am right, you ran from Portugal to London.
János: Yes it involved 5 countries and 3500 km.
Reporter: Apart from the noble cause, it's not a bad sport adventure either. How can someone run that much? It is a gigantic task even for a professional marathon runner.
János: Each runner did about 10-15 km a day. The international team consist of about 10-15 people, and the team had to do 100-120 km a day.
Reporter: It is a very professional initiative. One can see from the demo, that it is not something that started ad hoc. It has very earnest international patrons, brand names. As far as I know Carl Lewis for instance also supports it; in Hungary the main patron is Kinga Göncz, and there is Olympic champion Tímea Nagy. How many people are actually involved in this initiative?
Máté: This initiative reaches several hundred thousand people all over the world. In Hungary, and actually everywhere in the world our main targets are primary school children. We want them to run with us a few hundred metres or one or two kilometres.
Reporter: It is a bit like the Challenge Day where everyone is encouraged to be there and do some exercise at least on that one day, for only that short distance. So it definitely does not mean, that a schoolchild has to run the whole distance. When the race enters Hungary, can people join the runners?
Máté: Of course. In Hungary we run 300 km from 25 to 28 October. It enters Hungary at Röszke; Szeged, Kiskunmajsa, Kiskunfélegyháza, Kecskemét, Nagykőrös, Cegléd, Nagykáta, Isaszeg, Pécel - these are our main events, and then the European closing ceremony in Budapest. And it is not only the running, but also the adjoining ceremonies and cultural programs. So the actual aim of the World Harmony Run is to pool individual initiatives that are otherwise not too strong on their own for the cause of world harmony, and create this huge relay flow for them.
Reporter: So it also has a kind of cultural mission, there will also be a cultural festival at the closing ceremony?
Máté: Yes there will be a big festival, and we would like to welcome everyone on Friday 28 October starting from 2:30 pm in Budapest.
Reporter: Till that time we will definitely return to the subject, but concerning the sport achievement or the sport value, how much does this matters to you, that is to say, when you are running just from Portugal to England does it matter at all, why you are running? I guess you run at other times too.
János: Yes, I run otherwise too, but why we are running is the main point. We run with a torch, and it is very important so that people see and feel what it is about.
Reporter: How much attention do people give to it in these countries? What was your experience?
János: We have a quite good media coverage, and at the ceremonies we meet mayors, and we visit schools, and everywhere we get great attention.
Reporter: How many are you here in Hungary and how was this team founded in Hungary, and how did you join this initiative?
Máté: This run was started by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team, and they, the members of the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team constitute the runners. It is an international organization with runners all over the world, and that is how.
Reporter: What is your experience how much attention do these events generate in Hungary?
Máté: It is not by mere chance that we got this closing ceremony for Budapest as for years the Hungarian population and the Hungarian schools has enthusiastically joined this event. We have been organizing similar countrywide relay events for 15 years and received a warm welcome.
Reporter: And if someone - watching this program for example - feels like joining for a few hundred metres or kilometres when the relay comes here, how can he contact you?
Máté: This event is entirely open, so anyone can join. All the information on joining is available through our homepage, www.worldharmonyrun.org under Hungary. And there is an other important thing that might be interesting for schools. We have a countrywide drawing competition also about the World Harmony Run. The call for the competition is also on the homepage.
Reporter: This run does not have any competitive characteristics, so no results count?
János: No results count.
Reporter: You will run the Hungarian section too, I guess. What do you think, how many people will go with you?
János: I expect several hundred participants, may be several thousand, here, around Budapest, I expect several thousand.
Reporter: Can you conceive when such an initiative achieves its goal, when there will be harmony in the world, well, so anyway...
Máté: I would not go that far, but if people who join are happy and feel the importance of it, especially the children, then I think we create a major potential for the future.
Reporter: Thank you very much. I promise to return to this topic before October, and until then I wish good preparation, good running and good organization work.
Thank you.