Today the time has come to leave behind our Ukrainian friends and enter the Russian Federation. Before the start, Martin, Gennadiy and I were invited for an interview on the regional TV. The TV crew was very nice and inspired by the idea of the World Harmony Run. They also held the torch and we had a fine time together.

We started at the “eternal fire” and ran towards the Russian border. On the road we had a short breakfast break with “kasha”, boiled cereals with fruits, spices and sugar. But it also can be served with salt, vegetables, milk, honey… the varieties are almost endless.

The procedure at the border went quite smoothly and the border control was kind enough to allow all the Ukraine runners to follow us to the no man's land. There we thanked them for all the hospitality, assistance and the good time we had, exchanged contact information and said goodbye to each other.

Finally we stood in front of each other and sang together the World Harmony Run song. Bye, bye Ukraine, see you next year!

Privet Russia!

Our Russian friends saluted us wholeheartedly upon entering Russia and presented us with bread and salt. Some elderly runners from a Belgorod marathon club ran with us the whole distance (approx. 36 km) to the meeting in the city. It is astonishing to consider that the oldest of them is turning 80 (!) this September.

It is a very special experience to run on Russian streets. On one hand, you have the fumes from old trucks and buses. On the other hand every second car is honking, people smiling at you in the car, clapping hands and cheering us on.

Having such constant contact with the people and the road really feels like a welcoming ceremony. Two young boys proudly joined us for the last four kilometers on their mountainbikes.

The head of department of sports of Belgorod was awaiting us at the “eternal fire” dedicated to the victims of the second World War. After we had been greeted, we laid flowers down by the fire and maintained a minute of silence to honour the memory of those who passed away.

The dinner in a nice Restaurant was the last official part of today and since it was still early we had time to enjoy ourselves a bit.

Jewgenij, Vienna

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Distance: 85km

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Russia 8 June >