On Friday runners gathered in Lund to join Run for Your Life, a 24 hour relay race from the Artic to Paris.
The race aimed at mobilizing every day citizens and government organizations alike in the fight against climate change.
The runners in Lund stormed the streets just after 2:30 pm, running from just across the All Saint’s Church down to Stortorget, where they reached a tent full of fika and pamphlets about climate change.
Live stream of the event
There was also a projected screen where people could watch a live stream of other runners participating in the event. Later in the evening, a small band played songs under the tent while the remaining participants and supporters kept warm by several fire pits.
The Riksteatern, The Swedish National Touring Theater, sponsored the Run for Your Life project. The 24 hour relay race is comprised of one thousand individuals who gave personal anecdotes of their journeys towards climate justice.
Other community members, such as those involved in Lund on Friday, also have the opportunity to participate in the event. The relay race will continue until it reaches Paris, just in time for the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP21 from November 30th to December 11th.
Thankfull coordinators
The coordinators of the event in Lund, Mirja Ullvig, Helena Sandmer, and Anna Leppäjoki, were thankful for the theater providing a large platform in which they could communicate their concerns for the environment at the local level.
Anna hoped that through Run for your Life, “people would get their eyes open that a lot of people care about the environment, and it is not just the big environmental organizations who are doing actions, but it is individuals as well,” she says.
Josefine Henman was running to promote “environmental awareness…and climate justice for the future.”
Maya Ahlgren chose to participate in this event also to raise awareness and because, “running is a great way to communicate a feeling,” that in turn can promote future action.
People wanted to take action
Tina Frennesson, a representative from Riksteatern, said that knowledge is the most important foundation for this movement, and that it is “not too late…to encourage people to take action.” Similarly, runner Harold Helgesson stressed the importance that people, “stop thinking and just act.”
By bringing Run for your Life to Lund, the organizers hoped to spark local conversation about the environment and show that the people are ready to start taking climate change seriously.
All in all, Run For Your Life in Lund was a successful demonstration of local individuals coming together to exercise their support in the fight against climate change.
