Outside Trnava city hall we met the Lord Mayor who fully supported the World Harmony Run and emphasised that everyone can do something for harmony, and everyone is responsible for harmony in their own lives and other people's. He added that only through sport and culture people of different countries can become friends and understand each other. He finally tied a blue and yellow (the city's colours) ribbon around the torch and took the first steps of the day with us.

As yesterday we had runners from Trnava running club who would be running 23 km to Modra with us. As with our runners they ran with us in relay supported by their own vehicle.

One of the abiding memories of the day was running pass large fields of glorious golden sunflowers as far as the eye could see, next to fields full of bales of hay in the brilliant sunshine. Even so early in the morning the sun was intense and very hot.

At Modra (which means blue), famous for its blue and white porcelain, we met the vice mayor, Mr Marian Gavornik in the town's square.

He ran with the torch briefly and the Trnava local runners left us at the outskirts of Modra.

Along our route we even passed a place called Harmonia.

Our next ceremony was in Pezinok where we met the vice mayor, Mr Chinoransky who showed us into the city hall.

He explained that the city had a history of gold mining (which has now ceased) and wine making, which still continues. He proudly announced that the city has a strong sporting tradition and are also national champions in volleyball and basketball and has world champions in judo and karate. The local television filmed us running with the mayor and Ondrej gave them an interview.

At Senec we met the vice mayor and she said that we will all succeed on our quest for world harmony. At the end of the ceremony the mayor of the town also arrived and he happily greeted us.

At Bernolakovo we visited a children's home; painted on the outside of the building was the organisation's emblem along with the word 'Nadej' which means hope.

As we arrived in the children's home grounds we heard them splashing around in their small outdoor swimming pool. They were excited to see us, and one young boy remembered us from last year. The children were very receptive and we enjoyed their company.

Before our final ceremony in Bratislava we all went for a swim in a nearby lake.

We all ran the final 4 km to Kuchajda, an outdoor swimming park of new Bratislava. There we met the lady mayor of the district and a famous volleyball player.

On the stage we once again had the Japaka Orchestra playing for us. Local children each wearing a sash of a country came up on stage announcing the 48 countries of the European leg of the World Harmony Run. Each child had to come up on stage three times announcing a different country, as there were not enough children to help at the ceremony. It was brilliant to see their joy and energy as they ran off stage, to run around the back, get another sash and run back on stage.

Children performed their juggling skills on stage that they had learnt earlier.

At the end of the ceremony Daniel amazingly found a praying mantis.

At the end of the day we said our goodbyes to Jarek for the second time. He was on the International Team earlier in the year and had rejoined us for another fortnight. We will miss his Polish sense of humour and talkative nature; there's never a quiet moment when Jarek is around. He said he would hope to rejoin us for a third time. We look forward to welcoming him back.

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Distance: 65km

Team Members:
Anete Klavina (Latvia), Daniel Schenke (Germany), Jadranka Grbic (Serbia), Jarek Werner (Poland), Mark Collinson (England), Marlen Bernhard (Germany), Ondrej Vesely (Czech Republic), Petar Mihaylov (Bulgaria), Svetlana Gorshkova (Russia), Valentine Bebik (Ukraine), Zoltan Theobald (Hungary).

Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.

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