A batch of runners leaves Valmiera, on to new horizons, new cities, new people, new hearts. Indeed, the people of Latvia have certainly won the hearts of the World Harmony Runners with their unbridled enthusiasm, eagerness, and generosity of character. Especially generous are their beautiful smiles.

Today we have many ceremonies in the sun. Our first is in Liepa, where a water-stand is waiting to cool us runners down. A reporter thinks it would be nice if Anastasia were in the process of running while giving an interview on the radio. Her mobile rings while we are still on a break, so she quickly decides to set off running back and forth from the car for a stretch of about a hundred meters. We turn on the radio to listen to the interview, set to the background of the heavy breath of a runner in motion. The funny thing is that later a woman calls the same radio station, saying that she saw our girl as she was running back and forth along the street while giving the interview on her mobile. Whoops!

In Cesis, a sporty group of children runs with us from border to border. Some of them are quite tiny, but still they manage it just fine. In between we have a ceremony by a monument and are handed water from the city, which is most welcome.

In Sigulda again we are joined by many children in bright orange sportswear. At the edge of a park we are greeted by the city representatives and offered tasty dark bread with honey, fresh raspberries and blackcurrants, and Sigulda water. Children in green hand us flowers, sing songs for us, and invite us to dance with them. Then they join our orange friends out of the city.

At the junction of Vangazi an eager bunch is waiting for us. We are 45 minutes late, but still we are greeted with the most energetic hospitality. To save time we send Philip off with another torch and some of the children, down the main road. Meanwhile we are munching juicy honeydew melon. “Where is the torch?” asks Dipavajan, disturbing our munchathon. Whoops! While we are chomping away another group of kids dressed in rugby gear is running with the torch towards the centre of the town. Quickly we board the van (with a plate of melon in our hands) and dart down the road. Cheerleaders waving their pom-poms flank the road and cheer and dance as the torch passes. Many people have gathered at the square and we have a short but nice ceremony there. Then, joined by a judo team, including the Latvian junior champion, we run towards the main road.

Some local runners join us for 12km through the sun-filled summer streets of Latvia’s capital, Riga. It is a beautiful clean city with lots of fine architecture. In a park we run into our ceremony place to the sound of an energetic choir singing an arrangement of our World Harmony Run song.

A concert, attractions, and games for kids have already been going on in the park for 2 hours, and when we arrive a couple of hundred people are gathered there. Letters are read out from the President, Prime Minister, Minister of Health, and the Foreign Minister. Dipavajan is handed a medal by the President of the Olympic Committee, becoming an honorary member of the Olympic club. The kids there are really wonderful. When the torch comes down from the stage after our presentation, a flock of children comes running to hold the torch. One hand spontaneously piles upon the other until all the kids are happily holding the torch together.

The city provides us with a place to sleep for the night, and our Latvian friends prepare a very good dinner for us. We have an enjoyable time eating it, with many inspiring conversations.

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Distance: 125km

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