Our last day in Germany started with Dipavajan and part of our team going to a school in Zwickau to talk about the Harmony Run for a full school hour. It was a 10th grade class and they participate in the World Harmony Run program for schools . The program is divided into 5 school hours and can incorporate for example discussions, essays and art on the themes of World Harmony and Friendship. We had a good time there with the teenagers and we wish them and their teacher good luck and an inspiring and rewarding series of WHR classes.

The terrain is getting very hilly towards the south of eastern Germany, and many of us end up doing some serious long and steep hill work, which is somehow great and we really enjoy it, doing quite good paces, too. There is something so rewarding about pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion. And it’s remarkable and inspiring to find that after a few recuperative breaths and maybe a snack or two, you’re able to go on again, fully energised and happy.

The youths from an uphill school in Schneeberg experienced the joy of running even further uphill with us. They darted off at incredible speed and continued for a few hundred metres. The mayor was also here to gladly witness it and receive us.

Again the pure beauty of nature surrounds us with its fresh life. Mostly green dominates, but already the striking, bright yellow, purple and red colours of autumn can be seen blossoming here and there. We run on small country roads past farms, along streams, through little valley villages, with houses sparsely dotted about on the green slopes. Running in the bigger villages and little towns was a rollercoaster ride of quaint little cobbled streets, ascending steeply and plunging deeply, twisting and turning in tight bends. The town hall was of course always on the highest possible altitude, which I’m sure made our runners look very fresh and glowing on our arrival at the receptions.

Many of the little towns had houses painted in warm colours. They were imbued with purity and light, and shone a certain joyful and sweet innocence, which we experienced as being typical of these areas.

Two of such towns were Kirchberg, where the mayor received us, and Schwarzenberg, where we ran with some tiny sweet kids.

Then it was off to the Czech Republic border and it went up, up, up and up, through fresh, deep green forests.

The weather had been changing from bright and sunny to fairly cloudy so far, but when we reached the Czech border a real feeling of cold winter weather dawned on us.

The cold, wet wind was blowing harshly, and it felt quite grizzly. Still, we were very happy to enter Czech, and all the more so, as over 30 of our Czech marathon team members and friends had gathered at the border to meet us. The joy and enthusiasm erupted full-flare as we fused together.

Our Czech coordinator excitedly gathered us all to brief us for the day, we said our goodbyes to our great, shining German coordinator, who had done such a wonderful job for the route from Berlin, and managed to keep floating all the way to the end despite countless pressures. We are very thankful to him, and his beaming smile shall stay with us and spread to all the places we go.

And then we were off a big sprightly crew, hearts fresh and new, running downwards into Czech Republic, an amazing pre-autumn panorama before us. It these altitudes the grass had lost its chlorophyll and lay in shades of yellowish brown before us. The grey sky rested silently and somehow eerily and ominously above the dark green tree-line. An etherical ambience lay over the scene. We had joyful ceremonies in the fresh mountain villages of Abertamy and Merklin, where the mayors and a bunch of people, including lots of children, had come to meet us.

In his speeches Salil also commented on how inspiring it is to us runners when we see that so many people have come to greet us.

The people were natural, open and spreading lots of joy with their bright eyes and infectious smiles.

As we reached our destination, the magnificently architectural city of Karlovy Vary, we couldn’t believe it was the same day, because now the sun was smiling at us from a clear sky, the air soothingly warm. The city and our Czech members accommodated us at a nice hostel and invited us for some good soup and pasta. A clear starlit sky graced the night.

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Distance: 110km

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Czech Republic 29 September >