CHICAGO - August 22, 2007. Lt. Governor Pat Quinn joined with the 20 international citizen athletes of the 2007 Blue Planet Run, who had been running nonstop since June 1 in an unprecedented effort to raise money to deliver safe drinking water to some of the 1.1 billion people who live without it.
Quinn met the runners at Grant Park near the Buckingham Fountain where the official Blue Planet Run baton handoff tookplace, marking the beginning of the Chicago leg of the 15,200-mile journey. The 2007 Blue Planet Run route will take the runners through Joliet, Lemont, Chicago Heights and Crete before continuing into Indiana.
The inaugural Blue Planet Run was launched on June 1 from the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Since then, the Blue Planet Run team traveled relay-style, 24 hours a day, seven days a week through Ireland, England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Belarus, Russia, Mongolia, China and Japan.
“The Blue Planet Run is bringing the world’s attention to the fact that more than one billion people lack access to safe drinking water,” Quinn said. “Mark Twain once said: ‘whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.’ And I’m sure Mark Twain would agree that water is worth running for.”
Illinois citizens were encouraged to serve as "pace runners," by joining the Blue Planet Run team members, who take turns running 10-mile shifts.
Illinoisans were also encouraged to contribute to the effort to expand access to safe drinking water by donating through the Blue Planet Run Web site at www.blueplanetrun.org. |