In our first school visit since we re-entered England the children at Wooler First School were determined not to be outdone in enthusiasm by the schoolchildren of Scotland.

Finally, one of the teachers had to break the news that it was time to say goodbye. "I'm sure you'd love the runners to stay all day," she said to the kids. "Forever!" corrected one of the children.

Their favourite game was accumulating stamps for every continent, to show that - while running around the grass area - they were visiting the continent, stamped not by passport officials, but by runners.

This innovative form of budget travel - offered at each primary school we visit - proved especially popular with jetsetting students. One girl received so many stamps that she boasted visiting 21 continents. No mean achievement.

After this game, which resulted in the kids' arms and (in some cases) faces being covered in rubber stamps, five of the children read out poems on friendship that they had written.

Georgia wrote: "It is good that you have friends, because if you were worried, you could talk to them. You have someone on your side and if you're bullied they could stand up for you. They will never leave your side.

"Friends for ever!"

Sam also read his thoughts on friendship (pictured above).

The school had also worked together on some posters, which will ultimately be displayed at the closing ceremony in Vienna.

Neil Wilson of the Glendale Gateway Trust (second from left) welcomed us officially to the "secret kingdom" of Wooler, so nicknamed because, while it has so much to offer travellers (hiking, running, cycling, canoeing), it is still not so well-known and one of the most sparsely populated areas in England - making it a great place to "get away from it all".

In the fine and sunny weather that greeted us today, it would be an ideal place for a long weekend.

Neil introduced us to Alison Wright, who caters for some of the outdoor-loving visitors as owner of the local sports store Gear for Girls. No stranger to running, Alsion once held an impressive world record: the fastest time from Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu. She completed the 188 miles, 42,000-ft-acent mountain run in three days and 10 hours!

Apaguha was among the window shoppers at Gear for Girls (though he possibly didn't buy anything).

For Alison, this was probably not as challenging as the run to Kathmandu.

The toughest bit was running across a river bed. Most of the runners didn't notice the footbridge just above them.

Still, they had numerous methods of crossing the creek, from balancing on rocks to... going somewhere else, apparently.

The rest of the team waited for the intrepid adventure-runners at the farm.

But the river was not the final obstacle for them to cross.

This was never a problem in the Himalayas!

Unlike the river, this barrier would eventually move out of the way.

From that moment, we made a point of looking for any bridges that came our way.

Sumahat had a bit of a cold that day.

To cover the distance, we split into two teams. The first team ran through the town of Alnwick in their journey - an archetypal English town, full of tearooms, historic buildings and charm.

It is best-known, however, for Alnwick Castle, acclaimed for its role as Hogwart's in the Harry Potter movies.

A handpicked team ("handpicked" mainly by themselves) ran past this famous castle.

The visiting season does not open until 31 March... which is probably just as well, or else everyone would have stayed there all day and nobody would have done any running.

This is Harry Potter and Hermione Granger... if they were siblings... and from the Czech Republic... and runners... and... Look, it's close enough, OK?

Once they tore themselves away from Alnwick Castle, the team ran to St Paul's Roman Catholic School, doing separate ceremonies for the First and Middle Schools.

With a reduced (but still strong) team, the cast of our usual skits underwent a few changes - something that will obviously happen a lot as we cross Europe.

Some of the kids were picked up from school in their parents' 1927 Sunbeam Talbot. After 85 years, still a cool vehicle! (But does it take unleaded?)

Meanwhile, the second team ran to Rothbury (after a short tea break in Alnwick, of course).

The kids from Rothbury First School greeted us wearing their bright school jumpers, in a rainbow of primary colours: red, blue, green, yellow.

As we ran outside with the children, every child wanted to run with the the Torch...

But the keenest kids included one of the school's two deaf students. She had been joining in the games outside, and had asked questions in sign language (with the help of a teacher). Now that the Torch was so close, free for anyone to hold, she reached out like many of her classmates, waving her arms in the air... But unlike the others, she could not yell out for the Torch. Amidst all the excitement, she was unable to run with the Torch. After we ran to the top of the hill, it seemed that she was nowhere to be seen. As parents had arrived, we assumed that she might have gone home... and missed her chance.

But then she appeared - not running, but seated triumphantly on Andre's shoulders. We handed the Torch to her immediately. We want EVERYONE to have a chance to hold the World Harmony Torch!

And even if we don't have stamps (because the other team has them), we always like to provide a souvenir. Some of the children have been given their first business cards (but they will rarely get one as colourful as ours).

The students of Rothbury First School enjoy sports and fitness for an excellent reason: as part of the school's sustainability program, they are encouraged to travel to school by bicycle or scooter. (They also learn about agriculture and the environment.) It was closing time as we left, and the number of departing scooters and bicycles suggested that the kids had taken the message to heart.

We still had many kilometres to go, running towards Hadrian's Wall, the famous wall built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian to protect England from the Celtic tribes in the north. Even the mighty Roman Empire had to bow to the might of Scotland! (Oh, the photo above is not Hadrian's Wall. Nice photo, though, don't you think?)

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Video Message from Davidson Hepburn, President (2009 - 2011) of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for 25th Anniversary of the World Harmony Run and a vision for the decade: "Toward a Oneness-World".

Full Text of the 25th annversary message and link to 25 language informal Translations: http://www.worldharmonyrun.org/25

or Click on language button for separate youtube videos wth sub titles in varous languages

See also:

• Youtube video on African experience 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!

• Listen to the World-Harmony-Run song: 2 min version // 6 min

– Noivedya

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Distance: 110 km

Team Members:
Apaguha Vesely (Czech Republic), Sandro Zincarini (Italy), Mladen Vujaklija (Croatia), Sumahat Strohn (Germany), Noivedya Juddery (Australia), Andre Carvalho Ribeiro (Portugal), Petar Mihaylov (Bulgaria), Abhejali Bernardova (Czech Republic), Satyamurti Miotello (Italy), Vladimir Ilyasov (Russian Federation), Laszlo Szente (Hungary), Karolina Hausenblasova (Czech Republic), Simon Hausenblas (Czech Republic), Balavan Thomas (England), Devashishu Torpy (England)

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

Gallery: See more images!

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