After a good nights sleep, we were all set for another great day of running and school visits, the first of which was Our Lady of Mercy Primary school.

The teachers had done an amazing job at preparing a programme for the arrival of the World Harmony Run. They had prepared many performances which literally mesmerised us.

Young children with bright caps entertained us with a creative rap song.

Nikki told a fantastic West African fable which captivated the imagination of all the children and adults alike.

Irish dancers dressed in traditional Irish wear danced with great agility.

This school had even more nationalities than our running team! Many children were smartly dressed the traditional garb of their country of origin.

Story teller Nikki and Principal Finan thanked the runners for coming to Sligo.

Outisde the school we said farewell to all the students in their national dress.

Two young internationals.

Immediately afterwards we ran to Carberry National School where the children greeted us with many cheers and smiles.

The children were delighted to be able to race around the playground with the torch held aloft.

We had help running out of Sligo town from Terry and Dearbhla from Sligo AC. We were soon in the thick of the countryside, running on quiet roads and admiring the golden brown hills all around.

As we ran down the hill towards Castlerock National school the children were leaning over the walls to see the torch on its way. After a warm welcome we gathered inside to witness a school full of talented musicians, singers and dancers. We heard many beautiful tunes accompanied by the beat the bohran and the drone of the accordion.

And then it was time for an Irish dancing set. Without the least bit of shyness the children were up and away dancing to and fro around the room.

With flags flying high in the wind we gathered outside for a photo before Principal Galley ran a lap of the school with children racing behind.

One of the many beautiful works of art the students had prepared for our visit.

Boijayanti from Puerto Rico makes some new friends.

The World Harmony Run cheer.

Peter Hynes joined us for the run into Swinford. Baridhi, Standa and Matthias all had a hard time keeping up with him as he raced down the country roads.

Peter's friends met us in Swinford and accompanied us through town. Thanks for the company.

A few kilometres outsides Swinford we arrived at Barnacogue. It seemed like the whole parish had come out to greet the team to Sheamais National School.

We were treated to a few reels with all the children, save one on the fiddle, playing tin whistle. The younger children came and performed very a humorous theatrical poem while the older students sang for us.

They had even learned the World Harmony Run song which they sang flawlessly along with the runners. It was fantastic to meet all the community and join them for a cup of tea while a local musician played some reels for us on the accordion.

It got a little chilly in the late afternoon as we neared Westport.

We were joined by runners from Westport AC who braved the wind and the occasional shower that came down.

Con, aged 14, impressed us highly keeping up a good pace for all 15 km in Westport. Closer to the town, a large enthusiastic bunch of runners young and old joined behind the torch for the last stretch of the day.

Cathaoirleach (Mayor) Martin Keane greeted the large group at the town centre and expresses all well wishes for our run around Ireland. We then presented Mayor Keane with the Torch bearer award for all of wonderful work within the Westport community. Mayor Keane very kindly organised a delicious meal for the team in the Castlecourt Hotel.

After a full and exciting day the team headed for our evenings accommodation.

We would like to offer our heartfelt gratitude to the OldMill Holiday Hostel and the CastleCourt hotel for kindly providing complimentary accommodation.

– Colm Magee

Distance: 103 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)

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

Gallery: See more images!