Our first night in Scotland before starting was spent in the picturesque village of Rosemarkie on the Black Isle.

A dear friend of ours Susie opened the doors of her cosy home to the World Harmony Run team for the night.

Janani met a passing local who held our torch and very enthusiaticly wished us luck for our journey ahead.

Happy runners eating breakfast in preparation for the days running.

A first sighting of Scotch Mist !

But this is Scotland so the soon sun broke through as we drove north to John O'Groats,

At the tipety top of the UK..... Lands End we will see you in 3 weeks!!

Off we go! ...Shobhaviti look after your ankle :)

We met many cyclists starting or finishing a John O'Groats to Lands End . These two were just starting and aim to reach Lands Ends in 13 days - a little quicker than us!

The spectacular seastacks of Duncansby Head - the most north easterly point in the UK

Amalendu gets us started on the journey south, he might be finding it a bit colder then Australia!

Friendly well wishers

Balavan is often our route finder and is now so practised he can do it with his eyes closed

One of Scotlands many gorgeous beaches - our hidden treasusrs!

The weather certainly put on a show for us giving us lovely blue sky, leading some on the team to liken the coastline to California !

Our Czech runners enjoy running some of our miles for the day.

The Wick RBLS Pipe Band gave us a true Scottish welcome to Wick.

Dressed in full kilted uniform they led us in a march along the high street playing Scotland the Brave.

Their lungs are stronger than ours!

We are extremely grateful to the band for taking time out from rehersals for their forthcoming trip to Germany. For many of the international team it was their first live experience of traditional scottish music, and the band definitely put on a fantastic show making the Scots amongst the team very proud!

Salil runs his first miles in Scotland

A local fishing boat.

Dhavala striding out along the coast.

After a long days running we were delighted have runners from the local club, East Sutherland Athletic Club join to carry the torch the last four miles of the day.

They were strong runners and their enthusiasm and energy inspired many of the team back out of the van !

The days run finished at the Sleeperzzz Railway carriages, where we were given complimentary accomodation for the night.

Down to the serious business of Guess the country!

Is that really what a kangaroo looks like?

The torch never fails to raise a smile :-)

Just what everyone needs at the end of a long day- the club members had also baked a fantastic spread of cakes and scones, which we all enjoyed together in the garden.

There's nothing like a nice cup of tea to wash away the days miles !

Rogart station, a remote location which has 4 trains a day pass through, 2 on a Sunday , one of which we ran onto the station to wave at!

Fraser, who not only ran with us but treated us to our second bagpipe performance of the day.

Our accomodation was in these unique and charming railway carriages, which are old sleeper trains. We were all even issued with tickets before boarding !

First Class!

Kate Roach not only gave us complimentary accomodation here, she organised her running club to run with us and bake for us . It is contributions from special people like this who really keep the World Harmony Run going. If you're passing through Rogart this is definitely a uniquely charming and friendly place to stay. Their web address is http://www.sleeperzzz.com

Kate with her husband Frank and children Fraser and Sophie.

We are very grateful to Vicki at Mitchells car hire in Edinburgh who gave us a great deal on our cars for the Scottish leg of the run. They are a friendly Scottish car hire company offering very reasonable rates. Their web address http://mitchellshiredrive.com

 

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The World Harmony Run proudly supports the International Year of Youth (IYY) and the International Year of Forests (IYF) proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly.

See the recent Youtube video which illustrates IYY slogan "Our Year Our Voice"  International Year of Youth - Zambia World Harmony

See also the UNESCO World Heritage (WH) Centre support for IY of Forests.  ... Convention for conservation of forest biodiversity. (more)

 

 

– Shyamala

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Distance: 76 miles

Team Members:
Salil Wilson (Australia), Apaguha Vesely (Czech Republic), Balavan Thomas (Great Britain), Shobhavati Davies (New Zealand), Shyamala Stott (Scotland), Dhavala Stott (Scotland), Uranta Kane (Scotland), Shrada (Latvia), Lenka Svecova (Czech Republic), Lubos Svec (Czech Republic), Amalendu Edelsten (Australia)

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

Gallery: See more images!

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