After nice breakfast 7:30 sharp we cross the border from Bosnia-Herzegovina to Serbia-Montenegro, the river Drina, in a soft purifying rain. All customs smile and cordially greet us, passport control takes only a brief moment. We thank our friends from BiH and are welcomed at the other side by quite some people from SCG. They have a huge flag so the carrier/runner will not only improve leg- but also arm muscles: strongly recommended for both boys and girls.

Brief and clear instructions from our 44th country captain Peja, some runners already on their way.

Ceremony in Loznica with live music, even a violin, beautifully dressed dancers, all in different embroidered dresses and soft leather dancing shoes. The rain stops spontaneously. After their performance all dancers hold the torch together: an enlightening and vivid moment. The public is inspired and start dancing in a row while some of the runners join them in some simple passes, which gives shared joy.

One group starts running, we drive 30 K to start the next leap-frog. Along the road all people are greeting us and ask why we run. Relay running is very popular in SCG.

The next ceremony is a success before it even starts: in Sabac lots of schoolchildren join the runners, despite the rain, all wearing white WHR T-shirts. Some k further on another group joins the runners, eagerly waiting to take over the torch. Almost all children are running at a fast speed.

Even their sport teacher’s efforts to slow them down are all in vain. Arriving at the ceremony a group of girls in white and blue do a great job at cheerleading: professional show.

It is a quick start after we find the police car who accompanies us. They are really kind and helpful. Thanks to a triple leapfrog we arrive early for the last ceremony: time to be creative. Schedule and condition give room for extra running today.

The last ceremony is a brief one, the host promises us to organise a bigger ceremony in his beautiful sport accommodation if we come back next year. He declares to be very proud to be able to receive us.

When we leave with the burning torch the sun competes successfully with a radiant sky - really a superb sunset. Inspired by this golden light 3 times 5 K each are run quickly, so we arrive in Belgrade on time to prepare for dinner with friends/runners. They receive us with an exquisitely delicious meal and as an after-dinner the pictures taken today are shown as a slideshow on Salil’s laptop. All look great: was this only one day? What a privilege to be on this run and to meet so many friendly and wonderful people.

Distance: 165km

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