Värnamo invites us to start the day with a great buffet-breakfast at a local hotel: cereal, fruit, bread, eggs, cappuccino…you name it. We’ll need it as we are clocking in a impressive 170k today.

This is no joke as we are only 8 runners, of which 5 are injured; one so much that she has to take the day off. That leaves us with 7 runners for the day. Our Austrian hero, Martin, fit and eager does a personal best of 50k. He is in top form, doing a consistent good pace and even sprinting to complete his marathon. Most of us others do over 20k.

In every country there are some special things or events that mark our travels, recurring themes which we meet with just about everyday. In Sweden it seems that this means getting lost. We are doing a very good job of being consistent, getting lost everyday so not to mess with the flow of things. Very soon the WHR will be qualified to double as World Harmony Search Party, which is no mean feat to be sure.

Although we don’t have ceremonies today we meet many wonderful people on the roadside. A nice woman runs with Lenka for 2 minutes to escort her out of a city. It’s funny because they don’t speak a common language. An enthusiastic, exuberant comment which come as a spontaneous joyful explosion from a jolly well-rounded man: “What an honour, what an honour, what an honour to hold the torch!” Eyes sparkling, face flowering into a broad beaming smile a car of immigrants say: “Wow, that is so great!” These are just a few of the special experiences which charge us runners, fill our hearts with something special, and which really speed up our legs for a while afterwards. I think many of us find that it is in the glowing hearts of the people we meet that we really learn and are reminded of what we are actually doing, what we are running for. Thank you!

So 170km - well done team! We made it.

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Distance: 170km

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