Today the Peace Run travelled from Hamamatsu to Yaizu.
We had no ceremonies to attend to this morning so we enjoyed our largest day of running so far.
Fortunately it was also our coolest day, courtesy of a strong headwind.
The course was very flat as we hugged the coast towards Kamakura.
The course was very flat as we hugged the coast towards Kamakura.
In many places the coastline is heavily fortified with high concrete walls and blocks to protect against potential tsunamis.
At 1:30pm we arrived at the Oigawa Elementary school.
We were met by 40 of the year 5 children who formed a colourful archway to greet us.
Children from other year levels enthusiastically waved to us from their classroom windows.
The highlight of the ceremony for us was when the Oigawa Elementary Schoolchildren sang their school song to us, so beautifully, sweetly and perfectly.
One thing that has struck me about the schools we have visited in Japan is that rather than having the children simply sing along unaccompanied or to a recorded musical track invariably one of teachers or students will actually accompany the students on a piano.
Suhasini found her match in Japan doing the Balinese Monkey dance.
Our first sign magnificent Mt. Fuji.
At 3:00pm we arrived at the Yaizu City Hall for a beautiful ceremony with the mayor and two dozen City Hall employees. The lawn area in from of the council building was decorated with flags from all the countries that the Peace Run has visited.
Just like at the Oigawa Elementary school earlier in the afternoon many workers who could not attend the ceremony stood at the windows of the adjacent council building and waved enthusiastically to all the Peace Runners below.
When we visit with school children we normally ask them to guess the country from which all our peace runners come from. We asked the council workers to also try to do the same which they successfully managed to do.
The mayor of Yaizu, Hiromichi Nakano, very eloquently welcomed the Peace Runners to the city and expressed how much our current aspirations for peace would bear fruit from tomorrow.
Yaizu city is famous for its hot springs. The city has set up free hot springs throughout the city for its citizens to use at anytime during the day. Fortuitously one of these hot springs is located right at the front of the City Hall so after our ceremony with the Yaizu Mayor and city employees we were able to soak our tired feet and legs in its purifying and revitalizing waters.
Some found hot spring to be a bit too much revitalizing.
