With so many meetings and ceremonies arranged for today, the International Team was split, where one team ran the Brno - Kyjov route, whilst the other half of the team did the 63 km route from Kyjov to Zlin.

Brno - Kyjov

The Team started from the town hall of Modrice where the mayor and a local female triathlete ran briefly with us. The Team had a further eight ceremonies along the 60km route so it was going to be a fun packed day.

On the outskirts of Moutnice a gentleman on a bicycle informed us that the mayor was waiting for us with refreshments. And so as we arrived, we were warmly welcomed by the mayor standing under a tree in front of a long table of food and drinks. The generosity and kindness of the mayors were to be the abiding memory of the day. We ran out of the town with a young boy and girl and the boy was so small he needed to hold the torch in two hands. Everyone cheered and clapped him. Along the route people stood in the shade of their doorways cheering us on. One woman said, "It's too hot to run!" An elderly gentleman shouted out to one runner at the back of the group, "Don't wave, just run!"

The road to Klobouky, 13 km away was hilly with a few steep hills that were a challenge for the passing lorries, let alone for the runners. However, we were enthralled by the beauty of the countryside around us. The view for kilometres around was one of large fields of sunflowers and freshly cut bales of golden hay.

At Klobouky the mayor met us on the steps of the town hall. There he presented us with a large half litre porcelain mug and gave each runner a commemorative golden coin. Some very young children watched the whole proceedings from the steps, and they later all held the torch. We were invited into his office where he provided us with food and refreshments.

At Terezin we were welcomed by traditional folk music playing from the village's loudspeaker system. On the village green the mayor dressed in her running clothes greeted us. She was all smiles and so happy that the Run came through her village. She eagerly showed us through the village museum, and at the back of the museum (that doubled up as the mayor's office) on a long table was such a spread of food and drinks we were all so thankful for her generosity.

Outside we met some of the local people and children where we passed the torch to them all. The mayor, a few of her colleagues and a few children ran the 2 km to the village of Cejc.

There the mayor of Terezin passed the torch to the mayor of Cejc. They were very good friends and work closely together. The children of Terezin enjoyed making new friends as well, as they enthusiastically guessed the country of each runner.

At the end of the ceremony everyone ran together with the children leading the way in front holding the torch.

We had further ceremonies in the villages of Hovorany, Sardice and Svatoborice-Mistrin. In Sardice the burly mayor was a lovely, smiling person and the sort of character that you could never forget. He has been mayor of the village for the past 16 years, and an ex-miner. He informed us about the history of the region and how in 1970 there was a terrible mining catastrophe where 34 men lost their lives. You could see the sadness in his eyes of the memories of lost comrades, but in his heart you could feel there was this fullness of hope and the joys of life. He said that he brought harmony into his village through having a group of singers in a local band that tour the region.

One of the young girl singers lovingly sang so sweetly for us that it moved us all. As with all our meetings today every mayor had abundantly provided us with with food and drinks. The mayor of Sardice was no exception. There were fruits of every description, and even apples from his own garden. He had even provided us with a water sprinkler to cool down and offered us all ice cream!

Before we headed off to Zlin to meet up with the other team the final ceremony was at the town of Kyjov. At the outskirts of the town we ran together with Mark (15), Hannah (15), and Sandra (14) who were members of the local athletics club. Our entrance into the town's square and meeting with the mayor was filmed by local television and we later gave a brief interview.

We ran through the town and to the outskirts where we finished our running for the day. It was then a dash to Zlin, about 60 km away to join up with the other team for the final ceremony.

Kyjov-Zlin

Our local runners started in Kyjov while we tried to catch up with them. They made a stop at Vlkoš to meet the mayor, Mr. J.Kozák, and anotherr stop at Vracov where Mayor Smid was receiving them. We arrived at Bzenec where they finished a ceremony with mayor Pavel Čejka and continued the journey together. After a few hundred meters children from a kindergarten were waiting to give us self-made paper flowers and pictures.

The kids put their fingerprints onto our picture of the harmony torch and we continued.

On the way to Veseli we met the Guiness Record holder and 8 time world champion of ''penny farthing'' (Bike with one big wheel and a small one behind it, and no gears) for one mile, Josef Zimovčák.

Together with other historical cyclists they accompenied us to Uherský Ostroh, where the vicemayor Ing. Hana Příleská joined them also on the historical bycicle.

When we arrived at Kunovice we were received by the vicemayor I.Majíčková. From this point on another four people joined us - the local woman's handball team, which are the best in the Czech Republic.

In Uherske Hradiste there was a big Ceremony in the town hall with a children camp, the vicemayor and local television stations.

After singing our song and playing a game with the children we were invited to help ourselves to refreshments and all of us, even the children, signed the visitors book.

The next generation of firemen became part of our team by running with us in Bilovice. Here with got to know the mayor František Janků.

We met other nice mayors, mayor Urbanova from Sarovy and the mayor of Bohuslavice.

We had a nice experience when little football players lead us to a pub in Březnice where we met mayor Halíček. Then we ran together with many good Czech runners to Zlin.

At the main square of Zlin (our final destination) we had a great reception on a big stage from a local radio station and very nice representative of the city.

When arrived, the Japaka Orchestra was playing the World Harmony Run anthem. A few moments before we were meant to leave the other team arrived just in time to introduce themselves. The moderators from the local radio did a great job and were very inspired by our ceremony. They did a lot of broadcasting about our Run.

Our day ended by enjoying the open air swimming pool of Zlin, wich has some very good slides!

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Distance: 123km

Team Members:
Anete Klavina (Latvia), Bogdan Copil (Romania), Daniel Schenke (Germany), Jadranka Grbic (Serbia), Jarek Werner (Poland), Mark Collinson (England), Marlen Bernhard (Germany), Ondrej Vesely (Czech Republic), Petar Mihaylov (Bulgaria), Svetlana Gorshkova (Russia), Valentine Bebik (Ukraine), Zoltan Theobald (Hungary).

Harmonemail:
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