In the morning we are at the square where the Mayor of Lida ran a lap of honour with us yesterday. There are many children present, holding colourful balloons in their hands. They join us for a short run and wave us goodbye as we head for today’s destination: a town called Valozhin, on the way to the capital of Belarus, Minsk.

The country receives us with such care and concern. The police (here called “milichiya”) always accompany us, making sure we are safe and protected in the vast lands of Belarus. Last night we stayed at a nice place and two “milichiya“ men spent all night alert near our bedrooms.

Today is a short but intensive running day: we have 6 hours to cover 100km, with only 2 teams running simultaneously. The weather is quite favourable: cloudy and not hot at all, a little rain time and again provides nice refreshment. Nature offers us small but pleasant treats - this is a time for berries and there is quite a variety in the local forests: blueberries, wild strawberries, raspberries and … a watermelon (no, not from a forest, we bought it).

At the border of the Valozhin region a ceremony is set up: a group of men and women dressed in national costume performs some songs for us, and we are offered freshly made traditional bread and salt.

The head of the Valozhin region’s sport club welcomes us. Local athletes are eagerly waiting to join us for the last 30km into town.

It is easy to know when we approach towns in Belarus: there are always signs that are well situated and visible from far away. At the Valozhin sign a big crowd is expecting us. There are children and youths in sports outfits waiting for their turn to join the World Harmony Run, and to carry the Harmony Torch into the town.

We are running in a big group, torch flying from one to the other. The last challenge is an unexpectedly steep hill but we make it, and here we are at the central square. Children give runners freshly collected flowers and the ceremony begins with the National Anthem. We are greeted by the Deputy Mayor of the Region, who passes onto us his wishes for friendship and world harmony, and then our team’s captain, Dipavajan, lights Valozhin’s eternal flame with the Harmony Torch. The local master of weightlifting comes in front for a short speech. He says that we are indeed an example of strength and endurance that will serve as inspiration to local sportsmen, to strive for new achievements. Here ends our day; we are to wash the cars, and then the town invites us for something to eat.

Today is the last day for Philipp, our Austrian runner. He lightly runs his last 7km to the town, ending his 3-week intensive training. In the morning he asked us to teach him a few words in Russian like “I do not speak Russian”, “Help!”, “A ticket to Warsaw”, and others. We hope it was helpful, since he had to make his travelling arrangements in Minsk.

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Distance: 100km

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