After spending a day in San Diego with many of our good friends there who treated us to great food at Jyoti-Bihanga Vegetarian Restaurant, our team of six runners from New York was joined by two members from San Diego as we drove to the border town of Tecate, Mexico.

It was a very scenic drive as we made our way from the super-highways of San Diego to the desolate sand, rocks and mountains of the very southern California deserts.

Our dear friend and only member of the team living in Tijuana, Olivia Acuna, organized the events of today and also those which will follow.

We were grateful to have the support  the of Oscar Murillo who is the director of Sports for Tecate.

The first school was the Jardin de ninos Estafania Castaneda. Profesora Martina Munoz, Director or Principal of the school was very cooperative and helpful in organizing the children and their own presentation to us.

The next school was Escuela Francisco Gonzalez Bocanegra. Professors Francisco Xavier and Valenzuela Romaro enthusiastically got the children together to greet us and participate in an exciting program once again.

The Colegio Loreto was the next school on our route. Veronica Leon was the Director there who organized the events and hundreds of children who were very excited to participate in our program.

After this school and a great lunch of genuine Mexican food, we visited a brand new high tech running track in a very big sports park developed by the Unidad Deportiva or Sports Department. Oscar Murillo very graciously invited us to visit and got some of the local children who train there regularly to run with the Torch on the new track.

Oscar also coordinated the planting of three new trees for World Harmony which we planted in a prominent location of the park.

Our last destination was the Escuela Rafael Ramirez. Professor J.E. Manuel Jimenez was instrumental in organizing the school of hundreds of children to participate in the events with our team here.

The children were wonderful, enthusiastic and quite excited to see some of their peers receive the Torch Bearer's Award.

It was a long and hot day in Tecate but well worth the trip and the efforts offered by so many people.

I am sure the photos of the day reflect more vividly the energy, enthusiasm and harmony of today’s events which are better seen than read.

– Arpan DeAngelo

Distance: 15 km

Team Members:
Salil Wilson (Australia), Jeromy Cheatham (USA), Olivia Acuna (Mexico), Homagni Baptista (Australia), Arpan DeAngelo (USA), Jowan Gauthier (Canada), Bansidhar Mederios (USA), Sujantra McKeever (USA), Agragati Seigel (USA)

Gallery: See more images!