LONDON : From Katmandu to New York, from Bangkok to Lon- don, an estimated 10 million people turned out in nearly 80 countries to run in a “Race against Time” to raise money for starving people in Africa Sport Aid organizers said Monday.
‘Spokesman Nick Cater said at Teats $7.5 million was raised in Britain alone in advance of Sun- day’s events, and it would take several days before full returns of the races turn in which organizers hoped to top $100 million world- wide from sponsors of races, T- shirts sales, phone-in pledges from millions of television viewers and entry fees paid by runners in some countries.
Cater said more than 130,000. People took part in the official 6- ‘mile run through central London, making it the world’s biggest atheistic event.
After Sport Aid, he said it was: up to the politicians at a special U.N. Session on Africa starting Tuesday to start solving Africa’s food problems.
But already, he said, Sport Aid Was hearing “discouraging noises” from New York indicating nothing much would change despite the crisis in Africa
“We do have responsibility to take a moral stance, because of the thousands of people who ran just because they wanted to do some- thing for Africa,” he said.
Cater said an estimated 10 mil- lion people tuned out in 278 cities around the world to run for Africa “Ten million runners was 10 times more than we expected. It’s an astonishing result,” he said.
The unprecedented show of unity reduced Sudanese torcher-bearer Omar Khalifa to tears in New York, where he ended a 12-nation run by lighting a torch at the United Nations to signal the start of the race.
Sport Aid said the picture of Khalifa Sunday lighting a flame at U.N. headquarters with a burning torch he carried from a refugee camp in his homeland was carried live on television to more than 50 cities worldwide, Chand, where it was too hot to run, Sport Aid organized a 6- mile march instead.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 30, 1986
