In a demonstration of their committment to ending world hunger, thousands of runners will participate in a relay run spanning fourteen states and will pass through the streets of Boston some time around noon on October 15.

"One Step Closer...End of Hunger Run II" will reach its final destination on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington D.C., on October 18, a week after the first runners take their initial strides.

Ready, Set, Go

Neil G. Boothby, a spokesman for the event and a first year student at the Harvard Education School, said yesterday two batons will pass from runner to runner the length of the entire Eastern seaboard. One baton will travel south starting from Eastport, Maine, and the other will travel north from its starting point in Key West, Florida.

Inside each baton is a message, which the organizers of the run will deliver to each member of Congress at the end of the marathon. "Hunger persists not because we can't end it, but simply because we haven't," the message states.

"In Boston alone, we hope to have the baton pass through the hands of thousands of people," Boothby said. He added that one person might get to carry the baton for a couple hundred yards through a crowded urban area like Boston.

"We're encouraging people besides serious runners to get involved," he said.

Paul S. Jacobs '81, a member of the cross country team and a two-time veteran of the Boston Marathon, said, "It sounds like a great idea," but was not not sure he would join the effort until he knew more about it. Sherry Roberts '81, another Boston marathoner agreed, saying, "It sounds like something I would do."

In the run's debut last year, there were 5000 participants in the event. World Runners, the Amateur Athletic Union chartered running club which sponsors the run, hopes to double that figure this year, Boothby said.

The organizers of One Step Closer hope to raise $1 million in contributions from the run in addition to delivering the message to Congress.

Runners will contribute to the world hunger organization of their choice and ask others to do the same, either by pledging to contribute on a per-mile basis or by donating a lump sum.

Boothby says that the Boston runners would probably add "somewhere around $125,000" towards the $1 million goal for the entire run.

Boothby says that he hopes that people get interested in the idea and run for something besides physical fitness. "This will connect their endeavours with something outside of themselves," he said.

"World Hunger is not something you can carry signs about--you have to find some other way to make people aware of the issue," Boothby added.