Outside the city hall of Ceska Lipa the International Team met up with so many Czech local runners. As always the Czechs were fit and eager for running as they set off at a brisk pace with the girls out in front.

Throughout the day we had a total number of 60 runners, supported by our two vans plus and additional twelve local Czech vehicles. You can guess what a challenge it is for Ondrej (the International Team Leader) to co-ordinate and organise all of this, but coming from Prague at least he can speak their language. Well, so we thought, but as he has been on the Run since it commenced on 2 March in Lisbon, Portugal, he has been speaking English and his Czech is not as fluent as it should be! I'm sure he will pick it up again!

Our first ceremony of the day was at Doksy where the mayor, Mr Kapoun warmly greeted us in the town's square. He fully supported our Run and was surprised at the large size of the International Team - we currently have 12 International Team members of 10 different nationalities, but including the Czech local runners brought the total number up to 60. The World Harmony Run Song sounded so powerful with such a large number amassed. We also met a lady from Germany who was delighted to hold the torch.

In the square there was a bakery shop called Harmonie where we had a group photograph.

From Doksy we ran through some wonderful countryside of forests, gentle hills, fields of sunflowers, and passed ponds covered with water lilies. This area of Czech Republic is renowned for its facilities for leisure, particularly walking and biking.

As we approached Kokorin it got hillier, and the land rose steeply as we ran up to Kokorin Castle. The castle has been well maintained and preserved, and is extremely impressive in its scale. In the castle courtyard we met the mayor of Kokorin village, Mr Sestak and he invited us to climb the steps of the castle tower, where we were afforded spectacular views over the forested slopes and surrounding area.

The two Czech boys, Pavel and Martin initially played in the courtyard and later up on top of the tower, and then again in the courtyard. They entertained us all with their traditional songs and good humour.

In the castle courtyard we met an elderly gentleman called George from Cork, Ireland. He was enthralled about the Run and wished to know when the Run would be coming to Ireland . He vowed to try to meet up with us when our journey takes us to Ireland at the end of September. Hopefully we will see you again George!

In the picturesque town of Melnik we met the vice mayor, Mr Koudela. He fully understood how sport could bring people together, as he was a Physical Education teacher. He was also very surprised by the number of runners that were involved. He was so proud to hold the torch aloft.

In the town's hall chamber he provided us with fruit, chocolate bars and refreshments.

We had further meetings at Obristvi and Chlumin. The hospitality we have received has been truly touching, and all the mayors have been so generous and kind by providing us with snacks and drinks.

In Obristvi, we had a very nice meeting with the mayor, Mrs Zimova, in front of the newly reconstructed town hall. Much work had been done to the town hall after severe floods a couple of years ago.

At the start of Veltrusy we met five young girls from a sports club ASPV Veltrusy who ran with us and two cyclists who accompanied us to Veltrusy gardens and the Veltrusy castle where the vicemayor of Veltrusy Mr. Tomas Capek welcomed us by Czech traditional meal - the bread with salt.

After the ceremony the vice mayor and more runners ran with us along the river, and over the bridge, passed the birthplace of the famous composer, Antonin Dvorak, and on to the Nelahozeves Castle.

In the fabulous courtyard we met representatives of Nelahozeves - mayor Mr Otasek and Mr Kuchta who gladly received us and were very proud that we had chosen the their town to run through. In the courtyard our voices singing the World Harmony Run Song resonated around. After a great rendition of the song the representatives ran with us to the grand statue of Dvorak.

Our final meeting of the day was with the vice mayor of Kralupy nad Vltavou, Mr Listik. He stated that people should take time to fully understand what harmony means, and our Run was making people aware of the need for this, and that world harmony is an achievable goal.

We finished our day's running at the Prague city border. From there we headed to our fabulous hotel accommodation where we will be staying for the next two nights.

In the evening we met up with Anete from Latvia who joins the Team until Zurich, Switzerland. We were all happy to see her after our wonderful experiences in Latvia.

Our first full day's running in the Czech Republic had been filled with the sight of grand castles and spectacular scenery. The generous and open hearts of the mayors we had pleasure in meeting had touched our own hearts deeply.

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Distance: 113km

Team Members:
Bogdan Copil (Romania), Daniel Schenke (Germany), Jadranka Grbic (Serbia & Montenegro), Jarek Werner (Poland), Mark Collinson (England), Marlen Bernhard (Germany), Ondrej Vesely (Czech Republic), Petar Mihaylov (Bulgaria), Petr Machacek (Czech Republic), 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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