We started the day (and the weekend) in Ipswich, bidding sad goodbyes to three of our runners: the noble Satyamurti from Italy, and the exceptional sister-brother team of Karolina and Simon, as they embark on a lengthy bus ride home to the Czech Republic.

Firstly, we ran to Ipswich Town Hall via Ipswich's peace monuments, especially those dedicated to the World Harmony Run's founder, Sri Chinmoy.

Christchurch Park is an ideal place for peace and harmony.

Through the streets of central Ipswich...

... to the town hall, where we were received by The Worshipful The Mayor of Ipswich, Councillor John Le Grys, and the Mayoress.

We handed the Mayor the scroll from the Mayor of Cambridge, commemorating the journey of the World Harmony Run. In exchange, the Mayor handed us a scroll to be passed on to the Lord Mayor of London.

The deputy town sergeant-at-mace held us fascinated with his encyclopedic knowledge of the thousand-year history of Ipswich and the ceremonial treasures on display. The Mace is very precious, and may only be held by a handful of trusted officials.

Exceptions can be made, however, in the case of very honest-looking people. (B. said that, despite its gold and silver, the mace isn't much heavier than the Harmony Torch.)

We were informed that, if the Mayor fell in the water, his chains should be saved first. The Mayor can be replaced (as happens every year); the chains cannot!

Taken in by the formality of our surrounds, we stood for the Mayor, expecting that he would want a terribly official presentation. He responded by insisting that sit down and have a cup of tea as his guests. "I'm a very informal mayor," he said.

As is our custom, we gave him a Certificate of Appreciation for welcoming us to Ipswich. He was very touched - and joked that, when he finishes his term of office in May, that is one official gift that he would take home with him.

The Ipswich World Harmony Run team.

When you take the Harmony Torch into the middle of a town, on thing is clear: people will want to hold it! We were more than happy to oblige.

What's a trip to England (even a World Harmony Run to England) without a visit to the football?

Sanjaya, who organised our meetings in Ipswich, took the Torch in the Ipswich Town Football Club.

An animated statue of football legend Sir Bobby Robson is a landmark of the Ipswich Town Football Club.

Guarding Sir Bobby - with the Harmony Torch!

Following our side trip to Ipswich, we continued our run from Cambridge, stopping along the way for any locals who wanted to hold the Torch.

The Celtic Harmony Camp is a reconstructed Iron Age settlement, located in 13 acres of peaceful woodland in Hertfordshire. We're not sure if it was quite ready for Deeptaksha's impersonation of an arrow.

We continued on the tiny villages and winding roads that are scattered along the northern road to London. These can occasionally prove challenging not just for the runners, but for the navigators as well. Fortunately, Abhejali is a great navigator... which made it slightly difficult when it was her turn to go running.

The van drove to what we thought was a changeover spot, and Noivedya started his run. Unfortunately, it was the wrong place. Abhejali appeared down the road, followed close behind by Noivedya, who had just done a few bonus, off-route kilometres. Our runners are nothing if not dedicated!

Vladimir's English is perfectly good, thank you.

For Mladen, 20 kilometres of running today! Only days ago, his running injuries had left him too injured to run, so he was keen to return to form.

Papa John's Pizza in Hertford was having a promotion that was difficult to ignore, so one team went to visit. Result: Pizza with their lunch.

We ran as a group into the streets of northern London.

We met the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who held theTorch to show his support - and spoke Russian with Vladimir, the Russian member of the team.

Boris is one of England's most recognised and best-loved politicians. In his TV appearances, especially on comedy shows, he has given much more joy than the average statesman, with his comical asides and witty, self-deprecating one-liners. As Mayor of London, he has started many worthwhile projects for health, fitness and the environment, among many other things.

We knew that the perfect sunshine, that has blessed us since we entered England, could not last forever. As we head through London, the skies were overcast and a chilly wind was blowing.

We met with the versatile and talented Helena Bonham-Carter, a popular movie actor for nearly 30 years, in films like A Room with a View, Fight Club, The King's Speech, Alice in Wonderland, and the Harry Potter movies.

Helena and her kids were happy to hold the Torch and show their support of the World Harmony Run.

At London's famous Camden Markets, we met many others who were keen to hold the Harmony Torch. The Torch drew so many people, who pulled out their camera phones to snap the runners and themselves holding the Torch.

Hampstead Heath is a beautiful place - and on a day like today, a fairly quiet one as well, as most people were staying at home, away from the cold weather.

The trees are more colourful in the springtime, of course, but even now the heath possesses a certain beauty.

We finished on Primrose Hill, next to Regent's Park, which provides some of the best views of London, even as the evening mist descends.

At the viewpoint, we met some German backpackers. In fact, almost everywhere, we have met German backpackers! Germany is one nation that knows the joy of visiting other lands...

One last glimpse of London from Primrose Hill - and one of our last glimpses of England, as we prepare to head for Dover tomorrow... and the European continent.

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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: 96 km

Team Members:
Apaguha Vesely (Czech Republic), Sandro Zincarini (Italy), Mladen Vujaklija (Croatia), Sumahat Strohn (Germany), Noivedya Juddery (Australia), Andre Carvalho Ribeiro (Portugal), Deeptaksha Mihaylov (Bulgaria), Abhejali Bernardova (Czech Republic), Vladimir Ilyasov (Russian Federation), Laszlo Szente (Hungary), 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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