After a stormy night of very heavy rain with spectacular lightening displays we awoke in our tents to a beautiful dawn chorus, and a variety of wet belongings depending on the tent in question....

Most of our runners were scheduled to leave at around 7am. Salil would have enjoyed videoing the comedy of 8 damp, sleepy people all trying to stow luggage and get their breakfast at the same time in one small RV. Nevertheless, we somehow made it into the cars and set off for our starting points more-or-less on time leaving Mark and Atulya to pack away the wet tents (which they later dried out in the sun in a car park).

The Capitol building is Madison's centerpiece and is equally impressive inside as outside.

Many weddings seem to take place there and one bride and her entourage were just arriving at the same time as we were and they were happy and excited to hold the torch.

We wish the bride a happy and harmonious marriage!

Later some of us visited Berkley Running Company, the running shop which Ronaldo manages. The World Harmony Run has a way of bringing people together and Patty once again demonstrated her perfect Harmony Run team spirit by inviting Ronaldo to join us for dinner. Thanks again Patty for our wonderful and plentiful buffet.

We had some great running today through Madison. When we started our run on the outskirts of Madison we met Udaivir Singh Sirohi. He was a nice Indian gentleman who owned the gas station we stopped at. Udaivir held the torch and took a few steps for harmony as well as offering us complimentary drinks, thank you.

As we passed Madison towards Middleton we came across a group of nice folks at the Sports Page restaurant. They were very kind and enthusiastic, it was nice to meet you.

We were lead to the Capital Building by Rolando Cruz, manager of Berkeley Running Company, Eric (originally from Madison),...

...William from Slovakia and his cousin Dushan. We ran through the University of Wisconisin which is a beautiful campus and also ran a little bit along the lake.

The street was full of people and many nice shops. We got quite a bit of cheers from the onlookers. Here we added one more runner, Nick, who is a student of German and French at the U of W. Nick dropped his friends and all his stuff to run with us barefoot to the capital. Nick was very cool, positive, and he happens to be a regular practitioner of barefoot running.

In Madison we stayed at the Best Western Inn Towner thanks to the big-hearted generosity of hotel manager Patty Chang. Patty hosted the runners two years ago and this year extended and exceeded her kindness again. Our rooms were of the highest standard (Highland Club) and each runner got their own. When we arrived we found gift bags stuffed with goodies including some fantastic breads and a note stating: "We admire you for your dedication and efforts to promote World Peace and Harmony. Your actions and the cause are fuel for your soul...but your body requires fuel too!" Patty arranged for our dinner and breakfast as well and even offered to put us up for another night. Besides this she was also working to create contacts for us in the city so that we could have an event. She made the contact with Rolando and some other groups in the city. Her efforts for the World Harmony Run are impressive and touched each of our hearts very deeply. Words can't fully express the gratitude and joy we feel towards our dear sister Patty. This is her second time hosting us and we certainly hope to see her again in the future.

Patty not only accommodated and fed the whole team, she also accompanied us to the Capitol building to meet the runners as they came in.

For dinner we were treated at our hotel to a wonderful buffet including lasagna, black bean cakes, zucchini cakes, stuffed cabbage rolls, vegetable soup, mashed potatoes and for dessert, a homemade apple tartlette. It was very good and we were also happy to have Rolando join us.

Later Rolando brought some of us to the Arboretum at the U of W for a nice stroll through the fields, it was very beautiful and peaceful, and the swarms of mosquitos made it very fun indeed!

Peace.

– Kokila and Jagadhata

Distance: 83 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), Yuyudhan Hoppe (Minneapolis), Megabhuti Roth (Minneapolis)

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