Scotland 26 April: Perth - Stirling
Our first event took us right to the centre of Perth where the Deputy Provost of Perth, Willie Wilson, welcomed our team right in front of the City Chambers.
We shall forever treasure the unique reception he gave us, for in him we found a real friend and supporter of the ideals of the World Harmony Run.
Willie is an accomplished long-distance runner who, at the age of sixty, continues to participate in running events all around the globe. Six weeks ago he ran a half marathon in Lisbon, two weeks ago he ran the London City Marathon, and a week from now he is going to take part in a 10 km race. And mind you, he is doing all this alongside his time-consuming and intense work as a Deputy Provost. It is simply amazing that he finds the time for the training that is required to master long-distance races such as marathons.
Interestingly, Willie also spoke about running as a way to connect with people, to share experiences and become friends, regardless of your ethnic and cultural background. Hearing this message from the Deputy Provost of Perth was quite thrilling for us, because this is the one experience that all of us cherish and treasure so much on the World Harmony Run. Perhaps it is the essence of what we seek to establish with the run.
Full of inspiration we took our leave from the City of Perth in order to make our way down to Stirling, located south-west of Perth, to meet with the Provost of Stirling, Mr. Fergus Wood. One of the highlights of this meeting (and there were many) was the location itself.
We met the Provost at the National Wallace Monument, Stirling, a historical monument to commemorate one of Scotland's national heroes, Sir William Wallace.
Wallace, the hero of the Mel Gibson film Braveheart, was brave enough to stand up and fight against the suppression by the English monarch, King Edward I.
To commemorate his life, the monument, a 100-feet-high tower with three museums inside, was erected in the 1860's by a Scottish society.
It overlooks the city of Stirling, being built on one of its surrounding hilltops.
The meeting itself was as promising as the special location that was chosen for it. We were entuhusiastically greeted by Provost Fergus Wood, who himself proved to be a great lover of foreign countries and cultures. Fergus greatly enjoyed seeing runners from so many different countries linked together in a spirit of friendship and harmony.
Little though did we expect the Provost to be a singer and musician, and we were absolutely thrilled when, out of the blue, he sang a Scottish song for us. The song has a refrain that he taught us (Too-ra-ma-roo-ma-roo-ma-rae, Too-ra-ma-roo-ma-daddy-o, Too-ra-ma-roo-ma-roo-ma-rae, The Day we went tae Rothsay-o). We sang the chorus with him. The lyrics were funnier than the funniest and told of adventures during a holiday to the Scottish town of Rothsay on the Isle of Bute.
Joining the Provost in a little chat we sat down in the museum's cafeteria to have some refreshment and enjoy his company. With the Provost's hearty support and his best wishes we finally departed from the Wallace Memorial to make our way to the finals of the Ondeo Stirling 7s rugby tournament, where we were invited to take part in the program.
During the intermission before the final game we ran around the pitch with the Harmony Torch lit up, carrying the banner and the Scottish flag with us. We were accompanied by friendly and informative comments from the rugby commentator, who introduced us to the public as the World Harmony Runners; we trotted over the lawn, being cheered by the crowd.
After our field run we shook hands and passed the torch to the pipe band of the Queen Victoria School, a local pipe band which entertained the spectators at the same intermission with their powerful and dynamic Scottish music.
The pupils did a fine job of entertaining the spectators.
The visit to the rugby games concluded our run for this day and we happily retreated to the wonderful home of Mr and Mrs Moss, from Bridge of Allan, who were so kind to welcome us in their Victorian home.
The building is over a hundred and thirty years old and a real jewel inside. This, enjoined with the unparalleled Scottish hospitality, gave us an unforgettable evening. We were all the while lavished with food, kindness, wonderful stories, and careful attention.
Distance: 31 miles
Team Members:
Ondrej Vesely, Pataka Spacek, Jara Rosa, Kamila Hozlarova (Czech Republic), Marc Schrader, Evelyn Schmedemann (Germany), Jarek Werner (Poland), Janani Spence,Tarit Stott, Uranta Tom Kane (Scotland)
Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.
Gallery: See more images!
|
< Scotland 25 April < Corsica 26 April |
Scotland 27 April > Corsica 28 April > |
|
Corsica 27 April |