We awoke to the sound of the light rain and wind beating on the window - someone mentioned typical British weather! If we felt down because it was raining, our spirits were instantly uplifted when our Arboga hosts brought us their local newspaper Arboga Tidning. Mark and Colm raced up the stairs shouting, “Read all about it! Read all about it!” The World Harmony Run had made the front page with a brilliant Team photograph of all of us holding the torch. Another photograph of us running with a half page article was on page five. It was a great start to the day, and even more so after a great breakfast of salty porridge and muesli prepared by the girls.

We commenced running from our accommodation with two local girls and our host running a short distance with us.

One of our vans when on ahead to continue running the scheduled route whilst the other followed behind, or should I say tried to; the van had to be pushed to start as it had a flat battery.

Our two Russian girls, Olesya and Svetlana ran the first 5 km together, followed by a another 5 km run by Jadranka. This morning the girls were leading by example in the pouring rain.

The pine forests that we ran through smelt so sweet and fresh with the rain and the breeze wafting the scent all around. The boys finally ran in the rain.

After 40 km we had reached the city of Orebro. The people were so receptive as we ran through the city’s cobbled streets of the main shopping precinct. People waved and smiled from shops, buses, cars, and from flats’ and offices’ windows.

After the city we stopped at a dog-training centre to eat lunch. I will say nothing of the fact that some runners eat like dogs! But their excuse was that they were extremely hungry. On the subject of food we have noticed that some nationalities have some rather peculiar food preferences. Svetlana puts honey on her apple, and Valentine enjoys the combination of cheese, Nutella and tomato sauce on his bread, and sacrilegiously puts ketchup on his Indian food (much to the disgust of Jadranka). The Russians and Ukrainians have unusual tastes to say the least, but we accept we are all different - that’s what makes it a joy to be part of the International Team.

As we ran a further 43 km to Karlskoga we ran through a beautiful National Park. It was a relief to run on a small dirt road with no traffic after running on some busy roads most of the day.

We saw a long-horned cow that some thought looked similar to Valentine.

The final 25 km though was run on a very busy highway to our final destination of the day of Kristinehamn. As we turned off the busy highway two girls from the local athletics club met us. As soon as they joined us the rain came down harder than it did all day, but we all simply smiled, and viewed it as a blessing. Along the route some young very excited children joined us.

The girls led us into the centre of the city where we met more of their friends and their cheerful and enthusiastic supporters.

From the centre we ran about 7 km along one of the biggest lakes in Sweden, Lake Vanern and headed to the United Nations (UN) Kristinehamn local association.

As a similar experience in Mostar, Bosnia we all enjoyed running with these children in the rain through all the puddles. No one minded getting soaked to the skin.

We were welcomed by an upbeat children’s drumming band. They were so loud it made your bones shake, and there were only five of them.

The torch was received by a local priest who believed that we were all one big family wanting harmony and peace.

We sang the World Harmony Run Song accompanied by our drumming friends. A local musician who heard us perform said, “Not only are you great runners, but also good singers”.

The priest invited us into the café where we were all treated to hot drinks, biscuits and pastries. It was a lovely atmosphere as we all chatted to our new Swedish friends, and at our request the drumming band performed one last arrangement - they were brilliant!

The chairman of the UN Kristinehamn local association spoke about that our sentiments for harmony ring so true with those of the United Nations. We both wish to see oneness in this world, and holding a large globe in one hand, he stated the fact that as an astronaut once commented viewing Earth from space - this planet is precious and it is the only one that we have, so we should do everything we can to achieve peace and harmony for the present and future generations. On this poignant note he presented us with a mini globe to remind us of our most important mission of harmony and that of the UN’s mission of peace.

A representative from Kristinehamn Tourist Board, Mat Ohman thanked us for bringing an unforgettable experience to the young runners of the city. We all applauded these young runners who ran with us so enthusiastically and they beamed with joy.

At the end we had a rather strange request from one of the deacon’s of the church. He asked, “Could you all help me move a house?” We said of course we can - no job too small! What we all actually moved was a large framework of a church currently under construction over to another part of the grounds. We all found it quite amusing. The deacon was very pleased.

We fondly said goodbye to the children who ran with us. Despite being wet and cold they had enjoyed themselves and they left waving with huge smiles on their faces.

The representative from Kristinehamn Tourist Board, Mat Ohman led us to our campsite cabins beside Lake Vanern complete with sauna. Out of his own pocket he had generously paid for our accommodation and breakfast for tomorrow. We are always overwhelmed by people’s support and kind-heartedness.

The girls cooked a fabulous meal as always - burritos and dhal soup. After a wet and rather cool day a hot meal totally revived us after a relaxing sauna.

In our rather intimate and cosy cabins we drifted peacefully off to sleep as we listened to the rain patter on the windows, and the tall pine trees swaying in the wind.

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Distance: 110km

Team Members:
Alexey Egorov (Russia), Colm Magee (Ireland), Franz Hintereger (Austria),Gints Peleckis (Latvia), Jadranka Grbic (Serbia & Montenegro), Janos Derekas (Hungary), Jirka Albrecht (Czech Republic), Mark Collinson (England), Olesya Ilyasova (Russia), Ondrej Vesely (Czech Republic), Petar Mihaylov (Bulgaria), Petr Machacek (Czech Republic), Roger Rogge (Germany), Sylka Schmicker (Germany), Svetlana Gorshkova (Russia), Valentine Bebik (Ukraine).

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

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