A long, long road, lined by trees upon trees upon trees... Today it goes to St. Petersburg. The nature, indeed, is beautiful. The traffic grows continuously. The joy of the run is continuous, visibly reflected in the faces of passing drivers.

Here we are, St Petersburg. TV cameras are waiting for us at the border. The rain has stopped and the sun makes a full appearance for the rest of the day, blazing in the midst of the bluest of blue skies. Our group is now joined by many local Russian Marathon team-members and other friends of the run. First we have a ceremony at a very large monument, singing the World-Harmony-Run song. With our torch we light two other torches, which have been part of the national World Harmony Run in Russia, spanning a much longer distance and time period than the short 10 days the European team have here. Afterwards our big happy group embarks on a 12km run through the wide sunny city streets, which are filled with people. Our new runners are totally revved up, bursting with vibrant energy, handing out leaflets and letting passers-by hold the Torch.

St. Petersburg is a very spacious and fresh city, resplendent with fabulous architecture: churches, mosques, monuments, you name it. Adding to the fresh atmosphere are the canals that cross the city and, of course, the great Neva river, with its multitude of bridges. At night these bridges are raised so that ships can pass under. These lit raised bridges glowing in the dark are really a beautiful sight (however, at this time of year it doesn’t get very dark up here – the sun sets at about 24.00 and rises soon after). The buildings are painted in noble colours of pale blue, pale yellow, pale orange... The city also sports large shopping malls and many specialist stores... like running stores for example.

At the square in front of the famous palace and museum, the Hermitage, a great ceremony has been set up for us. Around the central monument large flags in different colours have been raised, together with big World Harmony Run posters. Two youths stand at the front of the small crowd. One is dressed as the Tzar, the other as the Tzarina. They greet us together with the city representatives.

Again, we are welcomed with very good bread and salt. And what a crowd has gathered for us! We hear many encouraging speeches. Among the speech-givers: A hugely energetic sportswoman, aged 74, who can still keep a 5 min/k pace. A team of cyclists who have just cycled all the way from Moscow to St. Petersburg. They are very enthusiastic and say that our message is the same as theirs. The president of the institute of health. More about him later... After the ceremony we have time to chat with friends, old and new.

The president of the institute of health, Mr. Gorbenko, then received us at his institute. He is a very warm character, full of heart. He gives us a short informal talk about the institute, telling how in contrast to other institutes, where you only go once you are already ill, the aims of this institute is actually to keep people healthy. What a great ideal! He especially wanted to receive us, because he admires greatly the many works of the run’s founder, Sri Chinmoy, whom he received here one year ago.

Local marathon team-members provided us with accommodations and had prepared a huge, nourishing, and delicious meal: all heart and soul. The ice cream, homemade cookies, and pastries were delicious. I repeat, delicious.

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Distance: 190km

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