We ended the night last night with a campfire after our meal at Gouldings Campground in Monument Valley. The marshmallow roast is one of the new highlights of our international team who have just learned the art of the perfect toasted marshmallow.

Thanks to Ronnie Baird, the Operations Manager at Gouldings, we were able to have a very nice campsite with full hookups for the RV and tent sites to get a good night's sleep surrounded by a majestic landscape.

Some of the runners took advantage of the surroundings and took early morning hikes and even did some Yoga atop the gigantic boulders surrounding our campsite.

This local dog quickly befriended us and followed us everywhere we went on our hikes through the rocky trails.

Our good friend and local coordinator, Haryaksha Knauer, made some very good arrangements with the upcoming Native Americans of Tuba City later today.

The views and vistas towards the towering monoliths of Monument Valley are incredibly scenic and uplifting as they fill the landscape with natural shapes that rival even the greatest cityscapes of man-made skyscrapers.

On the way out of Monument Valley towards the city of Kayenta, the natural rock formations called 'Elephant Feet' greet visitors on the side of the road with their unmistakable presence.

The local Subway sandwhich shop in Kayenta offered us great subs for which we are extremely grateful. Donations like this are not only gratefully welcomed but also they are a wonderful way to reach out and share the harmony and oneness that we all so desparately need.

People along the way everyday want to hold the torch and feel the harmony and peace that it truly represents.

Coming into Red Lake we were met by a large group of Navajo children and their families. These girls couldn't wait to run in with the torch as we entered the parking lot where everyone was gathered.

After a few sweet photos with some of the children, we were off on a 22 mile relay run to Tuba City. Lisa and Kevin Loughran kindly arranged for the relay with the children as they have done in the past three times that we run here.

The children were hard to keep up with as we ran through their familar countryside with strong winds at times.

The children loved carrying the torch, sometimes even together.

Lisa, a teacher at the Moenkopi School and the mother of three of the runners who are Triplets, just ran the Boston Marathon in April and loves to get the kids to run with us as she also does.

It was a real thrill for us to have runners with us for such a long distance.

We finally made it to the Moenkopi Day School with all the chilren and their families who escorted us the whole way.

This 1937 Dodge had a little car trouble but made it the whole way. Our Dodge Caravan is 60 years younger as it sits next to the old-timer which is a real eye-catcher on the road.

We had a nice ceremony with the local children and parents as we all pose for a group photo in the parking lot. Everyone also had a chance to pass the torch and offer their goodwill and prayers for a harmonious world.

All the children received stickers, even this peace puppy.

Lisa received the Torch Bearer Award for her outstanding service over the years with the children and with organizing the families for this running event over the past six years.

We are also grateful to Kevin, Lisa's husband, for helping to organize the relay and shuttling the runners in his classic '37 Dodge.

Afterwards we had a big meal offered by Irma(in yellow), one of the parents who cooked a delicious food for us.

During the meal we presented some of the parents who helped with the relay with our Certificates of Appreciation. Without them this long run to Tuba City would not have been possible.

Coach Krause proudly shows us the cross-coutry running course he has designed and worked on for so long to inspire the children to train and race in a natural setting.

 Some of the children show some of our runners the art of playground athletics.

The Moenkopi Day School really came through as they always do to make our run into Tuba City a very memorable and enjoyable one...but they did tire some of our runners out quite a bit.

This welcome sign to one of our hotels in Tuba City was a relief after a hard day of running and playing.

 

– Arpan

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Distance: 70 miles

Team Members:
Arpan DeAngelo (New York), Shobhavati Davies (New Zealand), Jana Duskova (Czech Republic), Tom McGuire (New Zealand), Katya Percheklii (Ukraine), Larissa Zub (Belarus), Matthias Eckerle (Germany), Priyala Carvalho (New Zealand), Dzmitry Kuzmich (Belarus), Daulot Fountain (Seattle)

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

Gallery: See more images!

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