Today was a very special day for us in Prague. We started running from the most beautiful hilltop where the Prague castle is located and where the President resides. You have a beautiful view over the city and it was nice to start running downhill towards our first meeting.

We ran through the old part of the city and over the famous Charles Bridge.

On the bridge we had two spontaneous ceremonies, to explain the nature of the run. One was a meeting with a very enthusiastic group of young ladies from the Frances Bardsley School in England ...

... and the other group were German tourists, who invited us to run through their town in Germany next year. We will try!

As we ran on, we got a police escort that brought us to the municipality where we were officially received by the Deputy Mayor of Prague, Ms. Marketa Reedova.

In her very nice speech she said, “I am very proud that I could carry this torch that is to be touched by hands of eighty nationalities. At today’s complex time, this precious project can help in expanding communication among people of different countries. Because the more various nations know about each other, the smaller is the probability of mutual conflict.”

Much to our delight, she ran with us through the Old Town from Marianske namesti to the city hall situated at the Old Town Square.

We had a very unique and inspiring meeting with the Deputy Mayor, several government officials, ambassadors from different countries and other distinguished guests in Brozikova sin, the most prestigious part of the Hall.

There was a varied program with an official presentation of the World Harmony Run to the guests. First the master of ceremonies, Mr. Kritartha Brada spoke to the guests and welcomed them. Then the Deputy Mayor Marketa Reedova gave a very warm and supportive speech, which was followed by a musical intermezzo by four young ladies singing beautifully a cappella.

To bring the spirit of the run more to the fore, a short video of the World Harmony Run was shown. This touching and inspiring video showed the essence of the run in different countries around the world. Next, our international team runners introduced themselves. We had runners from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, Germany, Croatia, Ukraine, Moldova, Slovenia, Serbia, Poland and Holland.

To complement our rainbow of nationalities, several ambassadors came up to present themselves and offer their support to the ideas of the run. They came from the following countries: Sweden, South Africa, Slovakia, Mongolia, Indonesia, India, Croatia, Costa Rica and China. Some other distinguished guests, such as representatives of different parts of Prague, Ing. David Kafka, a member of the Czech Parliament, Mrs. Jitka Polaskova, the chairman of the Czech Aerobic Association, Mr. Pablo Capalbo, the chairman of the Prague International Marathon, Mrs. Romana Sonkova, the chairman of the Central Commission for Protection of Animals and Prof. Jiri Jindra from the University of Economics, Prague, also came up and offered kind words of respect and support for the World Harmony Run.

At the end of the program, the runners and the official guests were invited to climb the special tower to have a breathtaking view of the city from the second highest point in the Old Town.

Prague is a very special city with a great variety of beautiful and impressive architectural styles next to each other. It is said that once you visit Prague you will want to come back, such is the magic of Prague! We were lucky to see the city while running through it and having such a special meeting to remember.

Soon we had to start running out of Prague with a big group of runners.

Our team split into two; one team started in Celakovice and went ahead to Libice nad Cidlinou, while the other team started in Libice nad Cidlinou and ran towards Hradec Kralove.

Libice nad Cidlinou - Hradec Kralove

We started from Libice nad Cidlinou and after intense running we reached Chlumec nad Cidlinou. On the outskirts of the town we were awaited by members of a local marathon club Splasena lokomotiva (The Runaway Engine), who ran with us to the main square.

Here we were welcomed by a crowd of local citizens, lead by the Mayor, Ing. Miroslav Uchytil, town representatives, young soccer players and scouts.

We introduced our team and Chlumec nad Cidlinou showed off with a nice performance of majorettes.

The ceremony culminated by unveiling a plaque with the sign “Sri Chinmoy Street” at the main square, honouring the 20th anniversary of the World Harmony Run foundation this year.

Then all the town representatives, soccer players and scouts ran a symbolic lap around the square. After delicious refreshments at the town hall we and our new friends, the marathon club Splasena lokomotiva, took the road in the direction of Hradec Kralove.

Close to Hradec Kralove there is the small village of Stezery, full of enthusiastic and open-hearted people. We ran in just when an international futsal competition Stezery Mizuno Cup 2007 was in progress at the local stadium.

We were welcomed by village representatives Ing. Marketa Pliskova and Mgr. Jana Jerabkova. After introducing our team, we saw a charming performance of 7 and 8-year-old majorettes.

We all ran with the torch around the sportground and were then invited for wonderful refreshments.

To cover the remaining kilometres after such a meeting was then so easy for us ...

Celakovice - Libice na Cidlinou

In Celakovice, the Mayor Mr. Petr Barina ignited our torch and thus started the run on a nice sunny afternoon.

Soon after that we arrived at Nymburk, a city known for its basketball team, which has won the national championships for four consecutive years. Its players come from different countries and have excellent trainers and sponsors who help them towards its victories. The city has a very rich history and we were lucky to be received by the very sporting Deputy Mayor Mr. Ing. Miroslav Jenik, who told us about the city and gave us a warm welcome.

He also ran with us for a few kilometres along the beautiful river Labe while we headed for the next city, Podebrady. As we ran, many people waved us on and said they had heard about the run from local radio broadcasting.

We ran on a nice bike road along the river Labe for 10 kilometres, into the centre of Podebrady, a place known for its health spa specialising in cardiac problems.

We ran into the city park where a nice band was playing and there were many people sitting on benches and children aligned on both sides of the road to welcome us. The Deputy Mayor Mr. Tomas Kalenda received us warmly, and in his speech he emphasised that the inner harmony is of tremendous importance in the life of every human being.

We passed the torch to all the people present and were warmly invited to a beautiful buffet that the city had prepared for us. Then, Mr. Kalenda (on his bike) and his dog accompanied us to our final destination of the day, Libice nad Cidlinou.

Again, we ran on a very nice bike road along the rivers Labe and Cidlina and continued an open-hearted talk with Mr. Kalenda.

We also visited the remains of a very old settlement of the old Czech dynasty Slavnik, which governed from Libice the Eastern part of the Czech lands and was massacred here by the Premysl dynasty from Prague in 10th century.

At this place we met a very nice man - a former teacher from Libice - who explained to us all the details of this very interesting place.

Ostrava

Today our team of six World Harmony Runners was oficially welcomed at the 5th IAAF World Youth Championship in Ostrava .

The torch was received by the IAAF secretary general, Mr. Pierre Weiss, and by the chairman of the Czech Athletic Federation, Mr. Ing. Karel Pilný .

They both encouraged runners and the whole project in their speech. The runners then made a complimentary lap around the stadium. Through the whole ten-minutes ceremony, the World Harmony Run project was presented in Czech and in English by two commentators, perfectly in-tune.

They mentioned its route through Czech Republic a some facts about the World Harmony Run history, including its founder, Sri Chinmoy. The audience reacted very spontaneously and friendly. The spectators even forgave runners that they did not run over hurdles placed on the running track ...

The whole event was filmed by the IAAF official TV. The TV staff then looked us up in the backstage and filmed some more running shots and inteview for broadcasting to the whole world.

We are very grateful to them for nice pictures from the event.

There were many V.I.P. sportsmen present at the championship. We met also Mrs. Dana Zatopkova, who run with the torch in 2006 at her living place.

Then we have got to go Prague to join the rest of the team.

Distance: 98km

Team Members:
Andrea Fidrmuc (Austria),  Annemijn Schuringa (Holland), Arthur Schafer (Germany), Friederike Makowka (Switzerland), Jadranka Grbic (Croatia), Jaroslav Werner (Poland), Namitabha Arsic (Serbia), Ondrej Vesely (Czech Republic), Prafulla Nocker (Switzerland), Roberto Barth (Germany), Roger Rogge (Germany), Sandro Zincarini (Italy), Vladimir Salnicov (Moldova)

Harmonemail:
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