Beautiful Colac, a joy to witness.
The cool morning air greets the Finn, Asprihanal Aalto as he starts our day with torch in hand.
He is a mailman in Helsinki and is seen here sending "hotmail" in the microwave/mailbox.
And Mongolian teammate Munkhjargal runs the Rail Trail that connects Port Fairy and Warnambool. The women's team will run this trail further down and on in to Port Fairy.
Meanwhile, the women's team begins a morning run around Lake Colac with some members of the Colac Running Club.
Asprihanal arriving at the Rail Trail.
Roxana from the women's team is inspired by the cows, all very interested in what we are doing. The team shares a peaceful moment with them! Shortly after, the owners arrived to investigate. Their son reported that some people were down by the cows, smoking! The owners were relieved to see it was peaceful runners with the flaming peace torch!
On the way to Port Fairy, Roxana meets a very special family from Azerbaijan, seen holding the peace torch with their daughter Madina, 7 years old. They instantly love the Peace Run and understand its message of universal oneness, understanding and love, regardless of culture or religion.
Later, the women's team meets Karen and Claire in Koriot for an 18k run down the Rails to Trails path. Originally a rail road track, the stop at Koroit is the original station building. And an excellent place to meet! The team is thrilled to run with them.
A brief stop for water. And to view a local hobbit dwelling, on the left.
Then we continue on.
Ben and Leah also joined us along the way to Port Fairy.
Teammate Pushpendra lets us know that Woolworths of Warnambool kindly donated a basket of lovely fruit to the team. We are very grateful.
Meanwhile, the men's team finishes their kilometers.
And our Mongolian teammate is happy to make news friends.
As we enter the outskirts of Port Fairy, the team is very excited to see that the community has come out to welcome us and to run with the Peace Torch into the Village Green.
Honi is often found in interesting places with camera in hand to get some great shots.
Port Fairy welcomes us.
In town, the wonderful Emma Watty welcomes us with the whole Port Fairy community! Families, children, seniors, all come to Village Green to hear about the Peace Run and make their wishes for peace while holding the torch. The children read out moving and heartfelt words about peace.
The Mayor Karen Foster shares beautiful thoughts about the importance of the community. We are thrilled to offer her a Certificate of Appreciation and a Jharna Kala - Fountain Art painted by the founder of the Peace Run, Sri Chinmoy.
Thank you Mayor Foster!
Thank you to Karen, Claire, Leah for running with us all the way from Koroit.
Together with the community we have delicious tea and cake time at Port Fairy Community House.
The local community is excited about having Asprihanal from Finland among the peace runners. They love interacting with him and asking him questions about his record of running the longest race in the world in New York: 5000 km in less than 41 days! It's the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race.
Misha makes a new friend, a peaceful pup.
Another incredible food donation from Woolworths of Dennington!
The women took a short trip to the ocean courtesy of our amazing hostess, Emma. Thank you Emma for everything!
The Morrison-Adams family kindly gave the men's team their wonderful home to stay while they were away. This was made possible by Mel and Emma of Port Fairy Running Club, who loved the concept of the Peace Run and "ran with it" after they heard the Peace Run is coming to town. They're training with Rochelle Morrison-Adams for the Sydney Marathon.
Emma's friends cook for us a delicious curry. Others give their house to the men's team for the night. And the girls team is hosted directly at Emma's house. What an amazing community Port Fairy is! We are so deeply touched and humbled by it all. How much of a difference it makes when our hearts come to the fore, we serve without expectation and bring to the fore our best qualities. Emma truly embodies the Peace Run vision. Thank you Emma, the team is so grateful to know you. We look forward to Peace Run again in Port Fairy in the years to come!
