Team A

Team A

An early morning start, as we ran from Marlborough at 5:50 am, braving the chilly breeze after a somewhat frosty evening. We were running so early not just for a change of style, but to make a big entrance at the Rockhampton Multicultural Fair at the right time.

This event showcases the Rockhampton arts, crafts and multicultural community, with several stalls of food from different nations. Like the city of Rockhampton, our team represents a variety of nations and cultures, so we ran to the main stage, to introduce ourselves and to sing our theme song. (After all these months, our singing seems to be improving. No longer do we need to say “We’re better runners than we are singers” – but we still say it anyway, just in case.)

We spent the next hour looking at the stalls and presentations on offer by the fair then, along with the brightly-costumed representatives of many nations, we marched in the grand parade.

Among the stalls were the Rockhampton Social Justice Action Group, which has initiated the Peacemakers’ Garden Art and History Project along Rockhampton’s Fitzroy River. The riverbank is now a monument for peace, with mosaics and peace symbols dedicated to peace and harmony.

We continued running to Gladstone for another ceremony. The Deputy Mayor, Cr. Dale Sellers, welcomed us to this friendly town.

So did Jacqueline Johnston, Traditional Elder of the Gooreng Gooreng People. Jacqueline said that, while her people were the original custodians of the area, the owner was – and always will be – God.

We met with the people of Gladstone over afternoon tea. Finally, we were having a lazy Sunday!

While at the Rockhampton Multicultural Fair the team were interviewed by Michael Bailey from Radio Station 4RO, who broadcast out of Rockhampton. Michael was so full of enthusiasm for the team's efforts and the message of the Run that he kept us on air for over 15 minutes, much longer than he had initially planned.

Listen to the interview now!

Straight after our chat with 4RO we met with Carrie-Ann and Kent, reporter and cameraman for WIN TV Rockhampton who took footage of the whole team running with their respective country flags across the fair grounds. We hope to see the footage on TV on Monday.

Also at the Fair we met with Roscoe, an old friend of the Sri Chinmoy Centre who while residing in Melbourne in the 1990s participated in many Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team Races and was frequently seen at the Rainbow-Silence-Heart Cafe in Richmond, Melbourne, both in front of and behind the counter.

Roscoe was full of good cheer after being reunited with some of his old running buddies and has promised to be in Brisbane for the Closing Ceremony on Friday.

– Noivedya Juddery (Australia)

Team B

After an alarmingly cold night in Marlborough, the five of us packed up our tents under a starry sky and headed out at 5.45 am to drive to our starting point 40 km along the Bruce Highway. We ran 30 km towards Rockhampton, then joined with the other teams to spend the rest of the morning at the Rockhampton Multicultural Fair at the Heritage Village.

The Fair was a great experience and was well-attended by the local community, with the car park filling up surprisingly quickly at opening time.

Our team then ran another 40 km to Gladstone to join the other teams for an afternoon ceremony with the Deputy Mayor and representatives of the Gladstone community (refer previous report). It had been a very long day for us and we were extremely grateful to be welcomed so warmly.

We spend tonight at the home of Gladstone locals, Jenny and Richard Garrett. Jenny's daughter, Charubala, spent time last month traversing America with the World Harmony Run there.

– Bernice Matthews (Australia)

Team C

We began running in the cold quiet morning air, to reach the Rockhampton Multicultural Fair, an enjoyable and encouraging excursion.

We met the other two teams there and saw for ourselves the cultural diversity here on the Capricorn Coast. The traditional dress of people from all the different countries, the entertaining performances and delicious selection of world foods gave colour and flavour to the day and the goodwill and feeling of oneness between all the people pervaded the atmosphere under the warm Queensland Sun.

We all still had some more kilometres to run, during which we met Gary Zupane and his son Jarryd on the outskirts of Gladstone, along with Mark,

who led us on a run into the Library Square in the town centre. All three teams again converged for a meeting with Aboriginal elder Jacqueline Johnstone and Deputy Mayor Dale Sellars.

We were then treated to afternoon tea and chatted with some of the lovely people of Gladstone. The day was unexpectedly rounded off with a respite from cold nights in tents because we are now very gratefully ensconced in rooms at the Harbour Sails Motor Inn.

– Runar Gigja (Iceland)

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Team Members:
Aaron Carey (New Zealand), Amalendu Edelsten (Australia), Anastasija Aleksejeva (Latvia), Nigel Webber (Australia), Nataliya Lehonkova (Ukraine), Prabhakar Street (Canada), Edi Serban (Romania), Dima Lehonkov (Ukraine), Bernice Matthews (Australia), Veeraja Uppal (Australia), Nick File (New Zealand), Noivedya Juddery (Australia), Standa Zubaty (Czech Republic), Runar Gigja (Iceland), Elke Lindner (Germany), Sandro Zincarini (Italy), Angela Muhs (Germany), Misha Kulagin (Russia)

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