The Run began under extremely adverse weather conditions at Hellisheiði. Yesterday's storm was still going on, whilst having picked up reinforcements in the form of torrential rain and pea-soup fog. All the runners were soaked to the skin after mere 5 minutes outside.

This, however, was nothing to the 13 and 14 year old boys from the soccer team of Sports Club Hamar in Hveragerði - they smilingly braved the elements. Heading the group was their ever-energetic coach, Yngvi Karl Jónsson.

The names of these dynamic boys, who ran a distance of 8,6 km into Hveragerði are: Júlíus Brynjar Kjartansson, Eysteinn Fannar Oddgeirsson, Aron Karl Ásgeirsson, Ólafur Hafsteinn Pjetursson, Baldur Freyr Valgeirsson and Hjalti Valur Þorsteinsson. Upon reaching Hveragerði, an excellent treat was in store for us, as we were led to the Kjörís ice-cream factory, where we were greeted by Valdimar Karlsson, manager of Hamar club, who offered ice-cream and hot chocolate to all.

Policeman Ingvar from Árnessýsla district police came to lend his assistance and go to hold the torch.

The fury of the storm was felt by more than just the Harmony Runners. The sisters Unnur Þórisdóttir and Eva Þórisdóttir ran through the township of Selfoss during the greatest downpour of the day. With them was their mother, Guðrún Tryggvadóttir, who has selflessly worked with the World Harmony Run to co-ordinate the participation of sports clubs in this region of Iceland.

For the next 4 hrs. or so, the World Harmony Runners were mostly on their own, battling the forces of nature. It was, therefore, a great pleasure for us to welcome Víðir's good friend, farmer Jón Elías Gunnlaugsson, and his team of farmhand volunteers from USA and Germany. They all ran in their everyday work outfits, which looked great on photo.

After saying goodbye to Jón Elías and his team, we battled alone for a while until we reached Eystri-Rangá, where we were greeted by Sports Club Dímon who had a big team of young and old.

Joy emanated from every face, and it was nice to see young and old join around the torch. The participation of Dímon was extremely well organized by the grown-ups, and the running kids were carefully watched by policeman Ingólfur Waage.

Some needed a little help.

At the end of the day, we were offered the use of the pool at Hvolsvöllur by Kristján Magnússon, which was something our tired muscles could really appreciate.

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Distance: 68km

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