One of the things about the World Harmony Run is that you come to many interesting places, but unfortunately there is not too much time to see the sights and beauties of these places. Because I wanted to see something more of Belgrade than the part we covered by running, I went out for a very enjoyable walk through the city before breakfast. Some of the old people I saw gave the impression that they had lived through many sad experiences, as can be imagined from the history of Belgrade of the last 20 years. The young people looked fresh and full of life and hope for the future.

The rain yesterday evidently had been a mistake, which the weather forecaster corrected today with blue, sunny skies. Our route out of Belgrade took us over the hills along the River Danube, the first hills after a week of flat country. A long descent brought us to Grocka. The World Harmony Run coming into Grocka felt a wave of happiness entering the town, bringing smiles to people’s faces, including the mayor’s!

Grocka is not a big place, but it houses a lot of talent. Two twin sisters who played the piano for us were the first prize winners in a national music competition for children and the national karate champion, a girl of perhaps 16 years, was part of a very nice dance performance and ran with us in her costume.

But talent was also present in all the other little performers (sometimes with big instruments!).

We said goodbye to the Danube, which we met in Budapest, Novi Sad and Belgrade, and in Smederevo, a city recently partly flooded by the high water of the river. We will meet the river again in 10 days or so, close to its ending in the Black Sea. When we stopped for a short rest, this, by chance, happened to be in front of the office of the local television network. They did not miss this opportunity. Immediately people rushed out to film and interview us.

In Smederevska Palanka we got a lot of new members in our Team, bright and enthusiastic kids, who all eagerly jumped forward when asked to join the Run until London.

Of course we had to try the state-of-the-art fire-extinguisher in Velika Plana. For safety reasons we could do so only with all the right gear, helmet included. And of course also this modern machine could not extinguish our torch flame. Hope and aspiration for a better world simply don’t die!

We found a perfect spot for lunch.

In Velika Plana our tired legs were helped forward by the inspiration of another group of nice young people.

One kind boy even offered his bike to this good cause.

The reception we got in Lapovo was definitively a highlight of this good day. The joy and enthusiasm of the children there was exceptional, even by World Harmony Run standards. First, children brought us to their schoolyard, packed with other children, their parents and teachers. The mayor made a moving speech, in which he told the children that they all should write this day down in their diaries, because the coming of the World Harmony Run to their school was a very important day in their lives.

Then children of all ages did very sweet and delightful performances and dances for us.

When asked to join us on the road to Jagodina, the whole schoolyard emptied in seconds in a wave of smiles and enthusiasm. Some strong children ran with us for almost four kilometres, time enough to become best friends with us. We will not forget Lapovo and its children!

The wonderful reception in Lapovo lasted a bit longer than anticipated, which made us late in Jagodina, our finish for today. The great kids that waited for us here, besides strong legs and great smiles, fortunately also had patience, so we were happy to run into town together.

We are very grateful to the mayor and the city of Jagodina. They not only received us in a nice way, but they also provided us with food and rooms in Hotel Jagodina. It is only with support like this and because of people like them that the World Harmony Run can exist at all.

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Distance: 130km

Team Members:
Andrea (Hungary), Frank (Holland), Mark (England), Ondrej (Czech Republic), Petr (Czech Republic), Roberto (Germany), Tihomir (Croatia)

Harmonemail:
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