Saying goodbye to Wexford, the World Harmony Run left for the ferry at Rosslare to head across the Irish Sea to Fishguard, on the west coast of Wales.

As we waited for the runners to arrive on the ferry, we could not help but notice a plaque on the quayside commemorating the arrival of 4 ships in 1787; the four ships, carrying 1,400 Frenchmen, landed just around the headland from Fishguard in what was to be the last invasion of Britain to date. This short-lived invasion only lasted for two days due to the ferocious spirit of the natives; one lady single-handedly disabled and contained 12 invaders, and a large group of women wearing red shawls were perceived as soldiers, which hastened the surrender of the French to local authorities. More on this later.

The World Harmony Run’s first stop of the day was at a primary school in Fishguard, Ysgol Glannnau Gwaun where the runners were welcomed by Tim Owen and treated to a rendition by the children and teachers of "Hands across the sea". The children had spent some time sharing their visions of world harmony and what we can do to make a better world. These will be displayed at an exhibition at the Swansea 10k on Sunday, where the World Harmony Run will have a stall, and again later at the Temple of Peace, where the whole school ran out into the playground to hold the torch.

The weather had held for some time and now continued to do so, unlike last year when we had rain. The sun shone on so many sweet children. I really felt the sincerity in their wishes for Harmony.

Our meeting with the Mayor, Richard Davies took place just around the corner; last year's Mayor, Michael Williams was also waiting for the run to arrive back in Fishguard. The mayor greeted us officially, along with members of the local Lions Club and harpist Moira Lewis, who played her traditional instrument. Welsh cakes, or "bakestones" were to be had in abundance.

After the official ceremony, the mayor escorted us to the town library to see the Last Invasion Tapestry - a work some 30 metres long, created by 77 local women, which took 4 years to make and which depicts the story of the invasion and its end two days later. The Tapestry has rightly attracted a lot of attention from all over the world.

Leaving Fishguard on a cross-country route towards Carmarthen some 40 miles away, the runners started eating the miles with gusto. The Presceli mountains where, it has been thought, some of the blue stones used in the construction of Stonehenge originated, were beautiful in the afternoon sun and with three crews on the road it wasn’t long before we were just tfour miles outside the oldest town in Wales, Carmarthen.

To escort us into the town, the Mayor of Carmarthen, Aled Williams came to run with us. Aled is one of the youngest mayors I have ever met and still plays for a local soccer team. After arriving at the Town Hall, we gave a World Harmony Run presentation and were officially welcomed by the mayor, who then regaled us with stories about his duties as mayor, donning the special ceremonial hat that he wears when fulfilling his duty as Admiral of the Port of Carmarthen. He then treated us to a sumptuous meal at the Town Hall, ably assisted by Margaret and Rose, two very nice ladies who helped organise the refreshments.

After eating to our hearts' content, we left the Town Hall for our accommodation at Carmarthenshire Fire Station where we were taken care of by Simon Beynon and Darren Fern, who also let the Welsh contingent amongst the runners watch the second half of the Wales v. Japan rugby match. Many thanks to Ieuan Cray for making this possible.

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Distance: 60km

Team Members:
Ondrej Vesely, Rosta Vagner, Katka Prusova (Czech Republic), Balavan Thomas, Fran Chamberlain, Roger Chamberlain (England), Abichal Watkins (Wales), Jarek Werner (Poland), Terezia Hammel (Hungary) Ieva Kurzemniece and Anette Klavina (Latvia)

Harmonemail:
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Gallery: See more images!

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