Last night for some of our runners was more of an experience than usual. Towering over the Goulding’s Lodge RV campsite are a series of rocks and arches and five of the boys thought it was a great opportunity to sleep under the stars on these rocks. The sky was clear and looking up at the stars as one dozed off was a very harmonious feeling.

Thank you so much to the General Manager of Goulding's Lodge, Julie Viramontes for going the extra mile to arrange for our stay at the campground.

Today was a big highlight for us as we were joined by many children from the Moenkopi Day School in Tuba City.

Lisa Loughran, a teacher and coach from the Moenkopi Day School, and Rick Krauss, coach of the running club called Rez Runners, organized about 15 children to relay the Torch with us for 22 miles.

Lisa’s husband Kevin and other parents also helped with the run, shuttling the kids to various spots along the route.

The children were dropped of every half mile or so and would join us for that distance. Many running very, very fast.

Lisa's three children, Brianna, Eddie and Wesley all joined with us.

We had met many of these younger runners when we came through this region two years ago and we were delighted to see them again.

We ended our run at the Moenkopi Day School on the Hopi Reservation by Tuba City. After our ceremony with the children and parents, we enjoyed a delicious meal provided by the parents of the children. A reporter from the local Navajo-Hopi Observer newspaper came to cover the story.

We are so grateful to all those coaches, parents and children from the Rez Runners and the Moenkopi Day School, the Tuba City Boarding School and the Warriors High School.

The day must go to the children who ran their hearts out and gave us so much joy. They were: Brianna, Wesley, Eddie, Pretty, Kailynn, Maria, Chance, Ian, Blain, Tristen, Tejay, Taler, Neoski, Cheyenne and Sean.

We hope to see you all in two years time, and many years to come.

Today we met another group making an ultra-distance journey across America. FIJIs Across America are 3 weeks into a 7-week bike ride from the West to East coast. They stopped as they passed us, going in the opposite direction. They're raising money for alzheimer's research. They commented that they had passed a few of our runners as they cycled that morning, and all of them looked happy and peaceful. It was nice to meet someone else out on the road. They held the torch and we wished each other well for our respective journeys. We passed some more of their team as well further along the road.

We are extremely grateful to the Quality Inn Navajo Nation in Tuba City for so very nicely providing us with a home away from home. The general manager, Ella Manygoats, brought her whole team out to hold the torch. They also have a restaurant, an espresso bar, and a museum of Navaho culture attached to the hotel.

– Arpan, Atulya and Salil

Distance: 95 miles

Team Members:
Arpan DeAngelo (New York), Atulya Lee Berube (San Diego), Mark Collinson (England), Kshetragna Ulanova (Russia), Surya Smolennikova (Russia), Vladimir Salnicov (Moldova), Kokila Chamberlin (England), Vajra Henderson (New York), Drsalu Gruenstaeudl (Austria), Becky Xerri (Wales), Maria Manecke (Germany), Jeromy Cheatham (San Diego), Abhejali Bernardova (Czech Republic), Palash Bosgang (New York), Kalyanika Forester (Washington D.C.), Salil Wilson (Australia)

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