As has become customary on the Icelandic World Harmony Run, the day began by splitting up of the team.

TEAM A started at the town of Seltjarnarnes and was invited to a fruit buffet.

Running the first steps with us, was the very enthusiastic Mayor, Ásgerður Halldórsdóttir.

Children from the local sports club, Grótta, also joined us for a loop around their sports ground.

As we ran out of Seltjarnarnes, we met this lady on the bike who participated in the Run 18 years ago. She herself was a child at that time. Perhaps she is raising a future Harmony Runner? Other passers-by also joined us, and, in this way, we had many spontaneous meetings.

Meanwhile, TEAM B ran through Kópavogur and met with the Mayor, Gunnsteinn Sigurðsson.

At the city border of Reykjavík the two teams met and joined their flames. After this, there would be no more splitting up of the Harmony Team.

The city of Reykjavík invited us for a sightseeing tour of Höfði, the house where Gorbachev and Reagan had their first summit in 1986. Sri Chinmoy, the founder of the World Harmony Run, had also been to this house in the year 2000, when the city of Reykjavík gave him an official reception.

Many thanks to our tour guide, Anna Karen Kristinsdóttir, and groundskeeper Sigurður Gunnarsson. Both of them were really happy to be a part of the World Harmony Run.

Leaving Höfði, we set out for downtown Reykjavík.

On our way we were joined by girls from the sports club Valur. These girls are national champions in soccer in their age group. We all ran together down Laugavegur, the main shopping street in Iceland, towards the banks of...

...Tjörnin (The Pond), the oldest part of Reykjavík.

In the green surroundings of the Pond, and in an unusually beautiful weather, we were joined by several old-time friends of the Run, each of whom we offered the Torch Bearer award for their service to their community.

Steingrímur Hermannsson was the Prime Minister of Iceland in the years 1983-1987 and again 1988-1991. As the Prime Minister during the Gorbachev-Reagan summit, Steingrímur saw the opportunity of Iceland, as a peaceful, military-free nation, to become a place where heads of nations could meet together and talk about peace. In 1989, Steingrímur opened the World Harmony Run in Iceland and was lifted overhead by our founder, Sri Chinmoy. The two of them maintained their close friendship ever since.

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was the president of Iceland in the years 1980-1996, the first woman in the world to be elected head of state in a democratic election. During her presidency, Vigdís initated numerous projects for the betterment of Icelandic society, of which the best known is the Icelandic forestry project which aims to combat the erosion of Icelandic soil. In 1988 Vigdís met with Sri Chinmoy and later she became the protector of the World Harmony Run for the remainder of her presidency.

Vilhjálmur Þ. Vilhjálmsson has been a great friend of the World Harmony Run, first as the Mayor in 2007 and now as the president of the city council of Reykjavík. With his humility and accessibility, Vilhjálmur has ensured support and participation from the city of Reykjavík, for which the World Harmony Run owes him a debt of gratitude.

Halldór Blöndal was the Minister of communication from 1991-1999 and the president of Alþingi (Iceland's parliament) from 1999-2005. During his service in both those posts, Halldór became an invaluable friend to the World Harmony Run through his support and goodwill. Halldór first met with Sri Chinmoy in 1988 and frequently afterwards. Recognizing the value of Sri Chinmoy's initiatives, such as the World Harmony Run, which stress the innate goodness of the individual and the power this innate goodness has to change the world, Halldór became one of the greatest supporters for the nomination of Sri Chinmoy for the Nobel Peace Prize. Halldór inspired his fellow members of the Icelandic parliament and in 2007, for example, 83% of the parliament members nominated Sri Chinmoy for the Nobel Peace Prize.

And finally a short poem from Mukul Fishman, one of our runners.

Every island must be reached even if
it is hidden in the fog,
alonein frigid sea
with a skin of ice and stone
and a secret heart of fire
that none can see

– Suren

Distance: 15 km

Team Members:
Salil Wilson (Australia), Dipavajan Renner (Austria), Apaguha Vesely (Czech Republic), Judit Elek (Hungary), Roos de Waart (Netherlands), Eila Buche (Switzerland), Sandra Aurenhammer (Austria), Bhoiravi Achenbach (Austria), Chahida Hammerl (Austria), Edi Serban (Romania), Jiri Albrecht (Czech Republic), Mukul Fishman (Israel), Maria Horvath (Hungary), Pranava Runar Gigja (Iceland), Johann Fannberg (Iceland), Tirtha Voelkner (Germany), Neelabha Senkyrova (Czech Republic), Udayachal Senkyr (Czech Republic), Iva Nemcova (Czech Republic), Nivedak Corradini (Italy), Blanka Pernicka (Czech Republic), Gangane Stefansson (Iceland), Yuyudan Hoppe (USA), Viktoria Askelsdottir (Iceland), Daulot Fountain (USA), Suren Suballabhason (Iceland), Edward Silverton (UK), Jatnaban Sinelaine (Finland), Devashishu Torpy (UK)

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

Gallery: See more images!