It seems that every elected official we have met in Ireland has been exceedingly nice - really heartfelt gentlemen who were eager to welcome us to their city or town and show us with kindness and generosity.

Our first stop this morning was the lovely town of Dundalk where we were greeted by Town Chairman Mr. Seamus Keelan. Mr. Keelan welcomed us to town then took us into a local hotel for a delicous morning tea.

One of our team members, Sundar Dalton, entertained us with stories of his childhood growing up in the area and of famous people he grew up with or lived near. Mr. Keelan completed our wonderful stay in Dundalk by presenting our Ireland coordinator Colm Magee with a beautiful crystal with Dundalk's coat of arms embossed on it.

Adhiratha Keefe of the USA does it tough up a hill and into a pretty stiff head wind.

Sundar Dalton, an Irish transplant now living in New York hasn't been able to wipe the smile of his face since he arrived.

Purnendu from Serbia didn't like running on the road so he followed a different path.

Colm leads the charge into town...

Mayor Colman Burns of Newry continued Ireland's fine tradition of super-nice mayors, very kindly taking us to a delicious lunch.

We were joined by the Mayor's wife Mrs. Burns and his four children pictured below.

It was a very special treat to have a three course sit-down meal compared to yesterday's experience of eating out of the back of the van on the side of the road. You just never know what is going to happen on the road.

Mayor Burns presents Colm with the City plaque.

Outside of city hall we reluctantly said our farewells and continued north towards Belfast.

We are doing a lot of running on quiet country roads - there's a typical shot of the beautiful green fields and historic farm houses we are seeing along our path.

Baridhi Yonchev from Bulgaria was all smiles at the end of his run. Incidentally, the team would like to thank who ever is in charge of the weather for providing two exquisite days so far on our journey.

Running into Belfast we came across a remarkable "statue of harmony...that symbolizes the oneness of humanity."

It is situated in Belfast's Thanksgiving Square to "enrich our lives through peace, reconciliation and respect for diversity."

The team gathered around the Thanksgiving Square plaque to give thanks for all the enriching experiences we were blessed with today and will be blessed with in the coming days of our incredible journey around Ireland.

 

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The Text on the Sign:

 

Thanksgiving Square Belfast

"This female figure represents various allegorical themes associated with hope and aspirations, peace and recondiliation and is derived from images from Classical and Celtic mythology. Her position on the globe signifies a unified approach to life on this earth. It encompasses oneness, while celebrating the diversity of culture that exists in our global village.

"The aim of the sculpture is to bring people togetherr and to change hearts and minds; to make bridges across the divides in our community. To work towrds a peaceful, happy existence for everyone on this planet by respect for each other, their cultural heritages and all our aspirations.

"This symbol creates a tangible first statement of our long term objetive in bringing peple together to foster a happy and fulfilling life for all and a sense of gratefulness for all that live has given us. "

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Sundar's sister and husband were all smiles to hold the torch and catch up with their long lost brother.

Finally we would like to offer our sincerest thanks to Jury's Inn for hosting the men's team and...

...The Europa Inn for hosting our women's team. It is only with generous support such as this that we are able to succeed in our great round-Ireland adventure. Thank you.

 

– Salil Wilson

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Distance: 125 km

Team Members:
Colm Magee (Ireland), Adhiratha Keefe (USA), Boijayanti Badillo Gomez (Puerto Rico), Salil Wilson (Australia), Purnendu Knezevic (Serbia), Ambarish Keenan (Ireland), Sundar Dalton (Ireland), Katka Purusova (Czech Republic), Svetlana Gorschkova (Russia), Baridhi Yonchev (Bulgaria), Standa Zubaty (Czech Republic), Matthias Eckerle (Germany), Rupashri Brown (New Zealand), Kallola Brown (New Zealand), Shyamala Stott (Scotland), Dhavala Stott (Scotland)

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

Gallery: See more images!

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