We had a nice breakfast beside a still and tranquil lake in Lielvarde. It truly set us up for the day - good food and a beautiful scenic view in complete harmony.

At the car park beside the lake we met local runners in their green shirts from Ozolnieici Runners Club. Our first meeting was 16 km from Lielvarde with the mayor and director of sport at Ogre border along with some local runners. The mayor was very smiley and enthusiastic and he ran with us over the peaceful River Ogre and onto the town’s border, about 4 km away.

At Ogre border the mayor handed the torch over to Malda Calne, member of Salaspils Marathon Team, and other members of the running club. There was plenty of hugging and kissing as the mayor’s team said goodbye and we very much look forward to seeing him next year.

The seventeen kilometres passed quickly as we entered Salaspils to meet the mayor under a nice welcome banner.

From there the International Team along with runners from Ozolnieici Runners Club and Salaspils Marathon Team ran the 10 km to Riga “Lido” (a shopping complex with numerous leisure facilities). We had the Lido bear hold and run with the torch and even a real monkey held the torch!

With a police escort clearing our path we ran the 5 km from Riga “Lido” to the ceremony at ‘Ratslaukums’, a square surrounded by some amazing architecture of old churches and spires.

At the ceremony Karlis Villerush, Chief of Sports of Riga Government, and Ilgonis Schteinbergs, Chief Operations of Riga Region Government spoke eloquently about the importance of sport and harmony connecting people and how sport brings people closer together. The Latvian national television filmed the ceremony, and interviewed a few of the runners.

We then ran, complete with balloons, through the old part of Riga and passed the impressive Monument of Freedom. Along the 15 km to the Riga border we received a wonderful reception from the people of Riga. When we waved and smiled they instantaneously smiled and waved back. Riga might be the capital of Latvia, but it has that small town atmosphere, and an intimacy that is quite comforting.

We had some amazing runners running with us all the way. There was a 74 years old lady running with us 18 km with her backpack! She ran some marathons recently!

At the Riga border our excellent police escorts left us, but two young men stayed with us another 8 km to visit a school in the small town of Adazi.

At a school in Adazi we met some kindergarten children that are taught by Baiba and Anete. They ran with us wearing their tiny World Harmony Run t-shirts.

At the school we met the director of the school and the children sweetly sang our World Harmony Run Song and one of Sri Chinmoy’s songs. We lit their own Harmony Run torch with our torch. Over the past few weeks the children have been passing this torch to other schools and placing their hopes and wishes for a more harmonious future into the flame.

Our visit was complete when we all formed a human archway and the children ran through with such delight and joy following Jadranka with the torch.

In the late afternoon sunshine we ran the final 23 km of the day to our final destination of Saulkrasti (translated it means ‘Sunny Shore’) on the shores of the Baltic Sea.

We met Signe Sinkevica (Head of Sports Department) who led us off the road, into the pine forest, and then suddenly we were above the sandy beach overlooking the Baltic Bay. What a wonderful backdrop for a ceremony where we met Mr Ervins Gravitis (Saulkrasti Chief of Government), Ilze Petersone (Deputy of the Chief of Saulkrasti Government) and Judite Krumina (The Organiser of Cultural Events).

They were very proud of their beautiful coastal town and even prouder that they had the opportunity to receive the torch. A superb choir sang the World Harmony Run Song . It was one of the best renditions we have heard.

We were all presented with a neckerchief with sunflower embroidery, which we all wore straight away. Mr Gravitis then unusually made a request that we all go down on the beach and make a sunflower sand pie. He had especially brought many spades for the occasion. So for a short time we all reverted back to childhood and played in the sand.

All the local people from the ceremony helped us create a work of art in sand. The boys also had their own project - they created a medieval castle, complete with many spires and moat. Than we went for our accommodation, where Jarek and Valentin enjoyed their room very much.

Saulkrasti’s town representatives joined us for our evening meal. They were perfect hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed their company. In the hotel restaurant there were a television showing the national news, and the World Harmony Run was featured briefly showing the ceremony in Riga, and subtitles encouraging people to participate.

The tranquility of the morning was mirrored in the late evening as we sat on the beach watching the sunset. It was pure food for the soul.

---

Distance: 94km

Team Members:
Anete Klavina (Latvia), Arturas Rasimavicius (Lithuania), Ieva Kurzemniece (Latvia), Jadranka Grbic (Serbis & Montenegro), Jarek Werner (Poland), Jirka Albrecht (Czech Republic), Mark Collinson (England), Ondrej Vesely (Czech Republic), Petar Mihaylov (Bulgaria), Valentine Bebik (Ukraine).

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

< Latvia 16 June

Latvia 18 June >