The day started with one of the best breakfasts we’ve had in a long time, and everyone was in good spirits. We returned to Smorgon town square where representatives of the town’s sport committee, who had so kindly looked after us, wished us a safe journey. The children from the local running club who ran with us yesterday eagerly returned to run with us again out of town.

It was a perfect summer’s morning, and there was that feeling right from the word go that this was going to be a memorable day.

The brilliant reactions we got from people as we left Smorgon equalled the reactions when we arrived - just pure enthusiasm and joy.

Like a drop falling into a pond causing waves to spread outwards, the joy and enthusiasm created by the people of Smorgon seemed to spread to other people we met throughout the day.

Running was such a joy as we covered the 40 km distance to Oshmyany. Five kilometres outside the town children ran with us for a short while, and then they hurriedly piled into a bus to drive ahead to a small village where they waited for us again, to join with other children.

A representative from Oshmyany came to warmly greet us and she officially invited us to speak at a ceremony to be held at the war memorial.

The reception the runners got as we entered Oshmyany was amazing and truly one of the best welcomes we’ve experienced in Belarus. On both sides of the street young children were spaced every 5 metres for 1.5 km with flags and balloons and waving with such brilliant smiles that they melted our hearts.

It was if the whole town had turned out to greet and applaud us. The approach to the war memorial was crammed with adults and children, where the town’s representatives greeted us. It was very emotional to hear a World War Two veteran (he had been awarded the Red Star) speak of his experiences and the importance of harmony and peace in the world. These stirring veteran words, and the reaction ofthe people and the whole town inspired Mark to give a very moving speech. In that single moment we all felt a true sense of oneness and that world harmony was simply not a dream, but a reality. Every runner felt how this community appreciated the goals of our run and the belief of world harmony. It was a special and memorable moment.

As we ran off children joined us and people cheered and applauded. We sent Yura, our Belarus runner to continue running, as we were invited to a restaurant for lunch. As we got into the Harmony Run bus, an elderly lady had been moved to tears and crying she wished that God would keep us safe and protect us.

It was difficult for us to keep back our own tears. The hearts of the people of Oshmyany and our hearts had been so touched. Children piled balloons into our bus and waved us goodbye.

We had a great lunch at a restaurant. Later, the town representative and children who we had met earlier were to follow us to the Belarus - Lithuanian border.

At the border it was a series of thanks and goodbyes. Our time in Belarus was very special.

Many thanks to Anton, country co-ordinator, who was continually aided on the road by Yuri. Running-wise, the hero of the day every day was Yura, and we wish him a safe journey to China where he will be running as part of the International Team in the China leg of the World Harmony Run. Special thank you to our numerous translators, especially the girls, who more often than not used to be out of breath running to the ceremonies, and were still patient translators!

Border crossings can sometimes be frustrating - so much unnecessary bureaucracy and extra payments required sometimes. Valentine couldn’t get a visa again so we sadly had to say goodbye to him at the Belarus border whilst he would travel back to Minsk and rejoin us later. We briefly had to leave Jadranka at the border whilst she got a visa at the border.

Across the border into Lithuania we met our Lithuanian country co-ordinator, Romas, who also happens to be President of the Lithuania Runners Association. He informed us that he could get a visa for Valentine, so after a phone call, our Valentine would rejoin us far sooner than we had anticipated. We gladly joined up with the Lithuanian runners from the WHR team.

We also gratefully welcomed Aurtos to our International Team. A few hours later Jadranka and Valentine joyfully rejoined us. We are always glad to see Valentine. Whenever problems arise with his numerous visa requirements to travel across borders, his inner strength, perseverance and cheerfulness has always shone through.

We quickly ran the 35 km to the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius.

The tourism brochure describes Vilnius as “Unforgettable harmony and charm”. We ran into the centre to the Cathedral-Basilica and Bell Tower where we met the representative of the Sport Department of Vilnius.

We all received a goody bag that included a book of photographs of Lithuania, and Romas generously presented us all with a Lithuanian World Harmony Run t-shirt. We all wore these t-shirts to the restaurant where we ate a hearty meal of potato and cheese hot pot.

Distance: 89km

Team Members:
Aurtos Rasimavicius (Lithuania), Jadranka Grbic (Serbis & Montenegro), Jarek Werner (Poland), Mark Collinson (England), Ondrej Vesely (Czech Republic), Pawel Szymanski (Poland), Valentine Bebik (Ukraine).

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