Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Runners made a pit-stop in Portage la Prairie yesterday.

Portage Mayor Irvine Ferris was at City Hall to greet the team, and present runner Sanaz Datubar with a Portage gift bag. Datubar was born in Iran and currently lives in Germany. She explains why she got involved.

Ferris presenting Datubar with some Portage memorabilia

"I'm running for the cause because I feel that many people feel that we really need peace. Peace is all we need to be happy in this world, and if we have peace we can solve all of our problems. So this is the part that I can do, and I'm just so happy, and I'm so blessed that I can do it in this way."

Datubar says rural Manitoba is a really special place.

"It's beautiful! Since we are in Canada we've gone to a lot of small towns, and I'm just overwhelmed how kind-hearted, how open, and how friendly people are. Everywhere I go I feel like I meet people who are part of my family because they're immediately nice."

She adds it's really her first time to experience a big chunk of North America, and she's amazed at how beautiful the land is. Datubar also presented Ferris with a beautiful piece of artwork that will be hung at City Hall.

For more information on the Peace Run click here.