Bosnia 30 April: Sarajevo - Travnik
It had been raining most of the night, but by morning it had stopped raining and the rain clouds parted for a only a short time to reveal the warm rays of the sun. For us the day began with a run across an old Roman bridge not far from Sarajevo.
The Team then made a visit to the underground spring that is the source of the River Bosnia that gave the name to the whole country. Drinking this spring water was very refreshing as we soaked up the wonderful natural environment and the sound of the babbling river.
The wooded area was brimming with birds in full song and one bird that we observed kept flying close to the water’s surface and diving into the river.
The running today was far easier than yesterday, and also less distance to cover. The reaction from people and motorists though was just as spontaneous as yesterday, with drivers sounding their horns and waving back at the runners. At Kiseljak people were relaxing with their coffees and waved and cheered and wished us luck.
By midday the Team had swiftly run over half of the distance. Our Bosnian country co-ordinator, Dragan generously brought us a speciality bread of this area known as kajmak. This is a delicious white bread filled with a mixture of soft cheese and cream from the initial separation process of milk to produce cheese. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.
Just outside Kiseljak, we briefly stopped at a small village called Brestovsko to wait for one of our runners. People approached the Team curious what was happening, and children asked questions.
From this village we ran to Busovaca where we attended a ceremony welcomed by the mayor, few citizens and children. We also gave an interview to the local radio station. They enthusiastically ran with us from the city hall.
Later on our Bosnian runner Vlado, from Sarajevo ran for the first time. He is quite a well-built guy - he has a physique more akin to a rugby player than a runner. All of us, including our police escort cheered him as he set off and again when he finished his run. We called him Shrek.
Throughout the day our police escorts have been very helpful and smiley, and applauding and shaking hands of some of our faster runners.
By the afternoon the black rain clouds covered the whole sky and the last 15km to Travnik was very wet and windy. The heavy rain, along with the strengthening wind made running conditions rather challenging. However, the runners were spurred on by the superb encouraging reactions of passing motorists. The Team arrived at Travnik, rather wet, but ahead of schedule.
Here we were kindly invited to a restaurant by the city accompanied by representatives of the mayor, Helda Omer and Semin Konjalic. They were continually telling jokes and made us all feel so welcome and they became our great friends by the end of the night.
Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.
< Bosnia 29 April < Italy 29 April |
Bosnia / Croatia 2 May > Albania/Macedonia 2 May > |
Bosnia 1 May Germany 1 May |