After a good night’s rest at the wonderful accommodation provided so kindly by our good friend and Mexican coordinator, Olivia Acuna, we were off and running early in the morning with a police motorcycle escort through the city of Tijuana.

Our first destination was a Montessori School where we were greeted by about 200 very young children and teachers organized by Maria Teresa Nunez Godoy.

As we ran into the courtyard we were accompanied by a young and enthusiastic handicapped student who ran with his walker, smiling the whole way. His incredible determination immediately lifted everyone there as he escorted us around the courtyard next to the torch runner.

The children, though quite young, got into the spirit of our visit there and especially enjoyed running around the yard with us as some of them got to carry the Torch as well.

With our police escort still at hand, we ran to the next destination called Crea, a local sports park.

We were joined by two local women runners, Carolina Gutierrez and Patricia Ramirez who had no problem keeping pace the whole way.

Entering the main courtyard, we were greeted by many women from a local fitness club called Zumba. They contributed much enthusiasm and energy to the program. Most of them ran around the yard quite a few times taking turns happily carrying the Torch.

Receiving the Torch Bearer's Award was Mayela Altamirano who has worked tirelessly for decades encouraging and coaching handicapped athletes, especially wheelchair athletes.

A very entertaining Mariachi band brought a very lively spirit to the ceremony as well offering us many dynamic songs with enthusiasm and joy.

We then ran off to a nearby school, Cinco de Mayo, which spontaneously opened up its doors to us, welcoming us with about 200 students and some staff.

In the schoolyard we had a wonderful ceremony topped off by a very energetic run around the yard by all the children.

As we usually do with most of the schools we ended with the children passing the Torch one at a time around a very big circle formed by everyone.

Our next destination was the Carlos A. Carillo School where Guillermo Lopez Barcenas and his staff along with a few hundred children greeted us warmly in the large courtyard.

The last school was Alba Roja organized by Maria Silva Vasquez who along with her wonderful staff greeted us with 200 very excited children.

– Arpan DeAngelo

Distance: 21 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!