Team captain Dipavajan holds the key to the magic castle... read on!

Our friends Jenneke and Niek Lambert were so generous to host us for the night. They cooked for us, washed our clothes and brightened our spirits with their kindness and care. We are so very grateful to them.

We started the day by running into the city of Eindhoven, famous for the Philips headquarters, the PSV soccer team (which won the Dutch soccer league) and the Olympic swimming champion Pieter van den Hoogenband. City representative Marriëtte Mittendorff received us and ran with us. She was very touched by the symbol of the torch.

After the meeting at the city hall we ran towards a refugee camp just outside Eindhoven. We were greeted there by refugees from Iraq and Iran who had fled their countries in the hope of starting a new life here. Their stories were sometimes heart-rending and made you realize the dream of a world full of harmony is still a far cry. But we believe in hope and optimism, despite the apparent obstacles and difficulties. And the refugees we spoke to still cherished tremendous hope for a better world.

We posed for a group photograph together. The refugees were really touched by our initiative, they told us.

A group of Boy Scouts was waiting for us in the next town, Oirschot; the Scouts ran us to their club house.

There we met some younger Scouts (Cubs) and we ran with them as well. Although the schools were closed today, it was  nice to still see some children...

After that we were treated to a fantastic lunch at Cissy's parents' house. They had prepared a delicious pea soup for us, and a sumptuous salad. We ate and drank to our hearts' content. It was food cooked with love, which always tastes so much better. A great big thank you from our international team!

Then it was time for... the magic castle! Our last meeting of the day took us to Slot Loevestein, an ancient castle dating back to the Middle Ages. It was here that the famous Dutch thinker, writer and founder of the modern international law system Hugo de Groot had been imprisoned in the 17th century. He escaped from the castle by hiding in a book chest.

We ran across the bridge over the moat and into the central courtyard of the castle. In the Middle Ages this was just a castle where rich families lived, but from 1619 until 1831 the castle functioned as a state prison.

At the castle we were greeted by Annemarie, our smiling, kind and enthusiastic host, who gave us an extensive tour of Slot Loevestein. Her stories had us spellbound and transported us back to those ancient days. She was so pleased to be part of the World Harmony Run and really made our day with her exuberance and sense of humour.

This guy was making sure we all behaved well.

From one castle to the next: we spent the night in Fort Vuren, just across the river from Slot Loevestein. The owner had generously offered us free beds inside the fort. Thank you!

– Abhinabha

Distance: 90 km

Team Members:
Dipavajan Renner (Austria), David Mouton (France), Csaba Kavai (Hungary), Namitabha Arsic (Serbia), Darya Soboleva (Russia), Ksenia Soboleva (Russia), Abhinabha Hidde Tangerman (Netherlands), Anita Borics (Hungary), Sabine Meyer (Belgium), Rabinath De Lange (Netherlands), James Doran (New Zealand), Cissy Nahorst (The Netherlands)

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