Three States in a Day

Each day is different than the last here on the road although the process of covering the miles is quite the same. Three teams take three different sections to run along the route, sometimes coming together for ceremonies. Today our team started our run in Tennessee in the early morning hours.

At the start of our run we met sports coach Travis Laird, whose 11 year old son had run with the torch the previous day. It was very interesting to hear about his life and experiences as a soldier with an elite company that protects the President of the U.S. in Washington DC. He was very interested in the message, the ethos and the whole logistics of the World Harmony Run.

Travis ran 10 miles with us before he had to leave just as we were about to cross into Kentucky, our second state for the day.

After entering into Kentucky where the women’s team was to run to the Carlisle School in Bardwell, some of us drove to meet Mayor Phillip King and some of his staff at City Hall. Recently the town had a competition to come up with a new slogan for the town. A local high school student came up with the slogan in 30 seconds: “A Community of Unity”, which was accepted almost immediately. This slogan fits in nicely with the message of the World Harmony Run and the UNESCO Year of the Rapprochement of Cultures which we support as well.Unity, oneness and harmony always seem to go nicely together in any field of endeavor.

Arriving at the Carlisle County Elementary school in the countryside of Bardwell, there were 70 excited children with their teachers waiting for us. We started our ceremony a little early, so when the women’s team arrived with the torch they cheered with a greater sense of appreciation and excitement.

After our presentation the children had a chance to run with the teachers who carried the torch from group to group. This is usually as much fun for the teachers as it is for the children.

Principal Jessica Thomas was very gracious and happy to see the children participating in the event and wanted to do more in two years when we hopefully will be able to come back here.

This young boy gave us much joy doing an imitation of a 'British man' as he imitated the English accent of two of our runners quite convincingly.

Two of the slogans we saw posted in the school hallways which struck us were: “To proficiency and beyond”, and the other printed on a large poster of a basketball going into a basket saying: “You will miss 100 percent of the shots you do not take.”

Every child was given the opportunity to hold or touch the torch and offer their goodwill or smiles for us to carry on to the next community.

Our third state for the day was Illinois as we crossed the mighty Mississippi River once more and ran along its shores travelling north.

At one point Valerie Ross stopped to greet us, telling us that she saw us two years ago in the same area running with the torch. See seemed destined to meet us again so we couldn't help but to offer her our Certificate of Appreciation.

We arrived in the early evening at the Devil’s Backbone Campground in Grand Tower right on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Mayor Mike Ellet and his wife Joyce were there to greet us, as they take care of this wonderful facility in which they so very kindly offered us a place to set up camp for the night.

We were quite thrilled when some of the other campers came by to hold the torch and share in the peace of this wonderful location with us. This family helped us to sew something which needed mending and then insisted we take a donation from them. Their generous hearts touched us greatly.

Having a little free time camping out usually ends up with us doing some the many tasks that we do not always have time for on busier days. Repairing torches and catching up on writing reports, are just a couple of the many things we have to do to keep functioning efficiently on the road each day.

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The Mississippi River, the longest in North America and the fourth longest river in the world,[2,320miles or 3,730 km], which stretches all the way from northern Minnesota, winding down to the Gulf of Mexico, has been a lifeline for millions of people along its path for thousands of years. Harmony and oneness can be felt quite powerfully here as this natural wonder still 'keeps on rolling along’.

Tomorrow we will again follow the river all day as we run north towards St. Louis.

Mark and Arpan

– Arpan DeAngelo

Distance: 91 miles

Team Members:
Arpan DeAngelo (New York), Atulya Lee Berube (San Diego), Mark Collison (England), Kshetragna Ulanova (Russia), Surya Smolennikova (Russia), Vladimir Salnicov (Moldova), Kokila Chamberlin (England), Salil Wilson (Australia), Vajra Henderson (New York), Drsalu Gruenstaeudl (Austria), Becky Xerri (Wales)

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