We started our day at the St. Hilda's School in Southport, where we had a special meeting with Holly Warn and her friends and family
Alex Beavor, Holly's Warn swim coach, accompanied us to the school
Holly Warn receives the Torch-Bearer Award. She was the youngest ever swimmer to trial for the Paralympics at just 12 years old. At just 15 years of age, Warn was the youngest athlete to be selected in the 2024 Australian Paralympic team to compete in Paris
As we journey across the country and around the world, we come in contact with remarkable people who have inspired their communities, cities and nations. Our founder, Sri Chinmoy, loved to appreciate and honour people from all walks of life for their tireless efforts to create a better world. The Peace Run seeks to continue this legacy by recognising these remarkable people through our Torch-Bearer Award
Thanks to Holly's perseverance, hard work and dedication, she has been a great inspiration to many people. Holly wasn't discouraged by her health condition, and with her sports achievements, she has been proving that nothing is impossible. That's why we decided to award Holly Warn with the Torch-Bearer Award
We were also greatly impressed by her teammates and their love and dedication to swimming and sports in general
Holly's younger sister is also a remarkable athlete, running 10km in 44min at the age of 13
Swimmers, time to run!
Group photo with Holly's coach, family and teammates
These shared moments of joy will remain in our hearts
We started our day's run at Kirra Hill Viewpoint where we met with Selina Tomlin, Grill'd Coolangatta manager, who kindly offered us free vegetarian burgers for the whole team the night before. That's when she very enthusiastically and spontaneously agreed to run with us the next morning
It turned out that Selina is a great runner herself and a member of a running club
We had a short swim at Byron Beach before the second school visit
Many thanks to Woolworths Byron Bay for providing a gift voucher for our team
At the Byron Bay High School, we had a lovely meeting with students from the SRC (Students Representative Council) and their teacher, Madelin Sergi
Madelin is happy about this meeting
We enjoyed their beautiful musical performances
A few moments of peace together. The students really resonated with the message of the Peace Run and the importance of cultivating peace in their lives. Their are already engaged in various outer curricular projects making their voices heard in the community
Musicians are also great listeners
Who knows how many songs of peace has this torch heard? Never too many...
And now it's your turn to make a wish
The students are going to plant a Peace Tree, so we offered them a special plaque for the occasion. And once again, thank you very much for welcoming the Peace Run team and preparing these lovely performances which inspired us greatly.
Sometimes we are advised to run slower
Even a wave won't be able to topple this tree
And the day ends in Ingenia Holidays Byron Bay. Thank you very much for the tent sites!
Camping with a rainbow
Mikhail takes care of order in the van even after sunset
Thanks for another fantastic running day where we ran 140km!
