Today was a very busy day. first we had to double back to visit Merkinch Primary in Inverness, which we ran through yesterday.

The children were very attentive.

As an expression of our appreciation we presented them with a certificate signed by all the runners.

This year has been proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Year of Forests so we presented the school with a "Harmony Tree."

Then everyone went outside and "ran around the world."

This is the remnants of a huge rock concert festival on the shores of Loch Ness, creatively named by its promoters, "Rock Ness."

Apaguha leads the team into our next engagement at Foyers Primary School.

A smaller student body provided the same level of enthusiasm and welcoming spirit.

Yet another example of Scottish poetry the students collectively wrote an acrostic poem. (That's were each line begins with the letter of the word the poem is about.)

Wonderful people coming

Old and Young

Rain is tumbling down

London they pass

Day and Night

Hurrah! Up the hill

All TOGETHER!

Run, run as fast as you can

Mountains they pass

Over Britain they go

Nearly there

You can do it

Running they go

Under the summer skies

Not stopping

Our coordinator for the day, Janani, presented the school with a Certificate of Appreciation.

Next we visited Kilchuimen in Fort Augustus.

They had lots of questions.

Atul from India/Australia joins the team.

Scotland is so totally green.

Coming into Fort William.

Our last school for the day was Fort William Primary.

They were all outside...

...and they were really excited.

Janani points to the child that guessed she was from Scotland.

Atulya, from USA enjoys his first day on the Run.

Children proudly display their stamps proving beyond doubt that they "Ran around the World."

Our last engagement was a wonderful hike, with Sarah (yellow jacket), of the John Muir Trust, in the hills behind Fort William, just below Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain.

Sarah's dog, Berry, was great company and just loved fetching sticks.

Sarah was a wealth of information and she very kindly spent the afternoon with us.

Atul and Atulya hamming it up on the cable bridge spanning a delightful creek.

Teekhnata and Shyamala on the cable bridge.

Sarah and Apaguha balancing on the cable bridge. As you can see everyone wanted to have their turn on the cable bridge which required a little concentration to ensure one didn't end up in the drink.

The weather took a little turn for the worse so we got one parting shot and then headed for the cars.

From Scotland with love...

The hike was only about 3 km but it was so rejuvenating to get off the road and truly into nature.

Meanwhile Shobhavati and Shraddha were running the final miles to our finishing point of Onich, pronounced Oink.

Moments before this charming little dog did a neat little back flip and scampered off into the sunset.

Fort William from the other side of the loch.

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The World Harmony Run proudly supports the International Year of Youth (IYY) and the International Year of Forests (IYF) proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly.

See the recent Youtube video which illustrates IYY slogan "Our Year Our Voice"  International Year of Youth - Zambia World Harmony. They surprisingly mention Presidents and UN Secretary-General in a unique way! 

See also the UNESCO World Heritage (WH) Centre support for IY of Forests.  ... Convention for conservation of forest biodiversity. (more)

– Salil Wilson

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Distance: 55 miles

Team Members:
Salil Wilson (Australia), Apaguha Vesely (Czech Republic), Balavan Thomas (Great Britain), Shobhavati Davies (New Zealand), Shyamala Stott (Scotland), Dhavala Stott (Scotland), Amalendu Edelsten (Australia), Shraddha Kurzemniece (Latvia), Lenka Svecova (Czech Republic), Uranta Kane (Scotland), Atul Arora (India), Atulya Berube (USA), Teekhnata Metzler (USA)

Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.

Gallery: See more images!

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