We began the morning by splitting the team in two. It was freezing cold and raining as we left the Gartan Outdoors Education Centre.

Our team started running immediately...

...enjoying incredible views on their mostly uphill...

...and extremely windy journey.

We visited a school called Scoil Aodh Rua Agus Nuala in Donegal Town. The children had prepared a concert for us.

The younger kids sang beautifully – and the older ones performed in a choir of recorders. They serenaded us with songs, including ‘Danny Boy’.

Everyone had a chance to feel harmony in their hearts.

The lovely principal Mary Gallagher made us feel extremely welcome.

The students had baked us some delicious bread and cupcakes which we then tucked into the rest of the day.

Ernan McGettigan, Donegal Town Mayor provided a magnificent lunch at the Abbey Hotel. We were very impressed to learn that he used to run and his wife is still running!

Sundar led us into Bundoran.

Our team then ran to Bundoran to visit at St. Macartans National School.

The children had made torches and flags – and were learning a unit on Friendship.

We were offered some yummy refreshments by the kind staff – and they told us they had been following our journey on the internet! (Thanks for the chocolate biscuits).

Rebecca Duffy had prepared some wonderful artistic expression of friendship.

Here are some of the other students artwork.

We were sorry to leave.

The faculty and student body at Ballyraine National School greeted us with amazing ideas as to the many ways peace and harmony can take flight in our lives. We received so much from their enthusiasm and their inspiring welcome.

Selected students had prepared flags of the ten nationalities represented on the Ireland run.

The students performed an excellent rendition of the song “Imagine” by John Lennon.

We would like to thank everyone for all the fantastic ways peace was expressed from their own peace-flooded and imaginative hearts.

St. Patrick's School welcomed us with a thunderous enthusiasm and openness!

Danny McDaid (with torch) spoke to students about receiving the Torchbearer Award and of the significance harmony can have in everyone’s lives.

A special thanks to the students who kindly joined all our school ceremonies in Letterkenny!

We headed off to Balleybofey - today was a tight schedule.

Colm addresses the students at Dooish National School in Ballybofey.

Everyone shouted "Harmony Begins with Me!!!" so loud it could be heard around the world.

Our last school visit was with the students at the Holy Family School in Ballyshannon. Thanks so much for having us.

Even the lambs smile in Ireland.

Next in store – was a visit to Irelands beloved poet W.B. Yeats’s grave. Sundar met with a couple of visitors – and had a good chat.

We then visited the Yeats monument around the other side of the cemetery – one of Yeats’s most dearly loved poems – ‘He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven’ was engraved within a sculpture.

There was a moment of quiet contemplation as each member of the team read the poem – and felt the incredible emotion that the poem gives, and admired the inherent beauty of the sculpture itself.

Derek Butler very kindly escorted us the last 8km into Sligo.

We arrived in Sligo after a long day – and ran to the town hall to meet Sligo Town Mayor Veronica Cawley.

Mayor Cawley joined our women's team promising to come to a couple of schools with us tomorrow.

The team gave a presentation and then milled around, chatting to the Mayor about our travels – and admiring the grand interior and feeling of history. At the suggestion of Mayor Cawley we performed a rousing rendition of the World Harmony Run song on the Town Hall's grand staircase.

Gary Foran, our coordinator, has done a truly amazing job in putting together all these events!!!

It had been a fantastic - and busy day – but we were all very happy to crash at the Sligo Southern Hotel with a meal of pizza – and good rest before the next day.

We had a wonderful night's accomodation at the Sligo Southern Hotel and a sumptuous breakfast. We are very grateful.

– Rupashri Brown and Boijayanti Gomez-Badillo

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Distance: 120 km

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

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

Gallery: See more images!

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