"definitely totally awesome"

The steep hilly cliff road gradually became the steep hilly forest road.

Eucalyptus stands gradually gave way to the ever-larger famous redwood trees.

One of the teams went to see the "drive-through" tree. Unfortunately the top box on their car meant that they were two inches too high to drive through, but it was a sight to see anyway.

After we finished our running we drove along the Avenue of Giants. we were amazed at the size and splendour of the trees towering above us and lining both sides of the road.

We couldn't resist the opportunity to make a couple of stops for some photo shoots. Some of the trees are so large that not even the whole team could encircle it.

None of us had ever seen trees of this size before - they were definitely totally awesome. The forest gave us a lot of joy - we had a great day!

“Definitely totally awesome” - as one of the girls said about today’s scenery and none of us could disagree with that.

We continued running along Highway 101 north up the coast until the coastal town of Rockport. From there we headed inland and the road rose steeply through vast redwood forests.

At Miranda we met Michael von Shearer at the Center for World Peace and Understanding. The Center for World Peace and Understanding is a private association of individuals and groups established for the creation and promotion of peace, harmony, and mutual cooperation between all nations and people.

Their objective is the creation of a world living at peace and in harmony; created through successful communications, understanding of the various dynamics involved in any given situation and by doing their best to show a good example in their communications and relations with all those who they come in contact with. From time to time, as it is possible, they also help support humanitarian projects and services worldwide. Their aims and ethos resonate so harmoniously with the World Harmony Run.

We ran through the Humboldt Redwoods and Rockefeller State Parks. There is an area in the forest known as the ‘Avenue of the Giants’ and running through these majestic redwoods is a very special experience.

Some of the trees are over 2,000 years old and the forest has a timeless feel about it. The whole forest has a prehistoric atmosphere about it and you half expect dinosaurs to appear at any moment. The trees are so vast and hardly any sunlight gets through.

As the land rose we could see the River Eel meandering through the forest creating deep ravines. We often crossed high bridges that spanned the river. The views were amazing with the sun reflecting off the emerald coloured river.

As we ran up from the forests the land quickly got steeper and for about 8 miles we were running uphill as the road continually switch-backed. It was hard on the legs and lungs but the views from the top were spectacular.

Further along the route we reached the coastline again and we experienced another form of vastness and beauty. At Cape Mendocino the coastline was windswept and barren. It seemed to balance the tranquility and stillness of the forest.

Today we started at the coast, went through the mountains and the forests, and ended back on the coast.

– Kokila and Mark

Distance: 99 miles

Team Members:
Atulya Lee Berube (San Diego), Mark Collinson (England), Kshetragna Ulanova (Russia), Surya Smolennikova (Russia), Vladimir Salnicov (Moldova), Kokila Chamberlain (England), Drsalu Gruenstaeudl (Austria), Maria Manecke (Germany), Jeromy Cheatham (San Diego), Abhejali Bernardova (Czech Republic), Salil Wilson (Australia), Sukhada Korshunova (Russia), Pujari Schaffer (San Francisco), Asadhari Burns (New Zealand)

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