We'd had a chilly night's camping - the early morning dew had turned into a white frosting.

The men's team left at 6.30am, gallantly risking frozen fingers in order to cover the miles to Butte in time for the 4th July parade.

The women's team stayed on to pack away the still-soggy tents and thank our camp-ground hosts. They got their miles in later.

Butte is quite a small town, but its parade had 150 floats. We had a lot of fun joining in, with our RV.

There was more walking than running, but the streets were lined with people so there were lots of opportunities to give people the torch to hold. Some of them wanted to run with us too.

The whole team thoroughly enjoyed the experience. For most of the overseas team members this was our first time at a 4th July celebration, and for the American runners it was an opportunity to share the World Harmony Run with many, many of their fellow Americans.

People smiled and waved at us for the whole 2-mile route. Some of them stood up to clap as the runner passed by with the torch, and we gave out our cards until we completely ran out.

We were inviting many people to hold the torch and excited parents
were taking pictures. Right behind us in the parade was US Senator Max Baucus.  He noticed the torch and asked how far we were running. He
was  pleased to here we were covering over 10,000 miles in the US. He
told  us he was a runner and would be happy to run with us. We handed
him the  torch and he began running with us in the parade. He talked
about his  own running career.  He's a marathon runner and he seemed
very happy and  excited to carry the torch.  Those marching with him
were equally  enthusiastic and also carried the torch. This is the second time we have had the good fortune to have Senator Baucus hold the torch. Thank you for your time and inspiration!

After the parade the women's team went to cover their miles eastwards out of Butte, upwards into the mountains on tree-lined roads.

Coming out of the mountains into the vast valley, a cyclist stopped to ask what we were doing. It turned out that he was also on a multi-state journey - a solo bike ride.

Thank you so much to the Comfort Inn in Butte for providing accommodations for the entire team.

– Kokila, Rupasi, and Atulya

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Distance: 107 miles

Team Members:
Atulya Berube (San Diego), Jagadhata Amrhien (Chicago), Drsalu Gruenstaeudel (Austria), Vladimir Salnacov (Moldova), Mark Collinson (England), Kokila Chamberlain (England), Surya Smolennikova (Russia), Kshetragna Ulanova (Russia), Dima Grygorievski (Ukraine), Sukhada Korshunova (Russia), Michaela Pokorna (Czech Republic), Moni Neradilek (Seattle), Rupasi Young (Seattle), Jwalanta Voelckner (Germany)

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

Gallery: See more images!

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