Our local coordinators, and our long term friends and supporters - 17 athletes from the Runners Club „Ozolnieki”, were waiting eagerly at the border for their turn to help in carrying the Harmony Torch though this region.

This year is especially remarkable, as it is the 10th anniversary of the Run in Latvia, and Ventspils was chosen as its “capital”. Our hopes for a special itinerary were supported by the city administration, which granted us financial sponsorship for activities in the city of Ventspils.

After a few kilometres, the aspiring Eleja runners in their yellow shirts joined us and remained with us from the beginning of Eleja to the end. The refreshing spring water added more fuel to the enthusiasm of the runners.

In no time at all, we reached Jelgava and entered the city with torch, flags and hands waving to the pedestrians and motorists. The head of the Jelgava Sports Centre, Mr. Kaminskis welcomed us to this sporty town, ready to share the vision of peace and harmony.

Escorted by police, we ran happily with children towards Tukums - our destination for today.

The easy way...

To our amazement and surprise, two groups of local runners waited for us on the way. The first surprise was prepared by the people of Livberze. They learned about the Run only a few days ago, but they all cheered us and offered drinks.

The day was really beautiful, dry and not too hot, but refreshments are always welcome and are a good reason for a stop. We took some pictures and ran together, saying good-bye to these hospitable people.

An even bigger group waited for us in Jaunberze. Everyone in the happy crowd, young and old, wanted to carry the Torch. We have witnessed many times that the Torch has some kind of magnetic power, for example, a girl who was at one moment walking in the forest with her family, met the runners and the next moment ran with us, staying for two kilometres.

With the help of the energetic endurance runners from the Ozolnielki Runners Club, we reached the border of the Tukums Region where members of the Track and Field Club “Tukums” in their blue shirts eagerly joined the already large group of runners.

We soon reached the beautiful city square, featuring a fountain. Heartfelt greetings extended into a very generous reception and dinner for all the runners at a cafe.

The town offered us accommodation in a quiet and picturesque area near a lake, and a beautiful sunset was our final impression of the first day in hospitable Latvia.

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Distance: 94km

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