With the beautiful music of last night’s surprise concert still ringing in our ears, we awoke to a new and sunny day in the outback with lots of miles ahead of us. Today we had to cover 260 km, which is one of our longest days on the Peace Run this year ...
... with the knowledge of a 190km drive and then a 70km run, our girls team were very keen to get on the road early. By 6.30am we were packing up our tents and getting breakfast ready. Still, camping does make everything go a bit slower – you have to pack up your house for starters. But we were on the road by 7.21am.
Meanwhile, lunch was prepared ...
I (Abhinabha) was the first to leave the Barkly Homestead camping ground at 8 a.m. to put in the first 11km for the day. I had planned a speedwork session of long intervals as part of my marathon training. It felt great to run fast along the endless and straight Barkly Highway. Who says running for peace and running for a fast marathon time cannot go together? (Well, I don’t know if anyone actually said it, but if they did, they’re wrong.) I felt very grateful to Udar Morrison, who designed and built the new carbon fibre Peace Torches, since they are so light they hardly add any weight, which is great when running fast.
The running for our first boys team went very smoothly today as we had a nice rotation system going ...
... our Mongolian runner Bayarkhuu proved the hero of the day – to honour the big public holiday in Mongolia – by logging 27km, without hardly breaking a sweat. We see a bright marathon future ahead of him.
Again the ever-changing vista of the Northern outback gave plenty of colour to our running ...
... the pale blue dome of the sky felt like a friend’s embrace.
Being so enveloped by nature is one of the many charms of the Peace Run. In our striving for peace, nature is definitely proving a fantastic role model.
Near the end of our team's 90km of running we met with Jeanet and Harry Giles, a lovely couple from Brisbane who pulled over their camper van to ask about the Peace Run. Harry turned out to be an accomplished athlete, almost making the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich in the 400 metre hurdles ...
... at age 69 he is still competing, and in 2003 he even won the gold medal in his age group at the World Masters Games, also in the 400 metre hurdles. Well done, Harry! They were slowly heading back to their home town of Brisbane, where we will arrive on the 30th of July. In the evening we met with them again, as they also stayed over in Camooweal, our final destination of today.
On a long hot day of running, it is essential sometimes to recharge the batteries ...
The second boys' team had by now driven ahead the 90km which would be run by the first team. They now take up the narrative ...
As we prepare to say goodbye to the Northern Territory, we noticed a change in our surroundings – not a gradual change, but a sudden and dramatic one, as the sparks of tropical greenery were replaced by dry, bare plains, stretching for many, many miles ahead.
As our team had 100 kilometres to run, we prepared to brave the Territory heat one last time. A Peace Runner enters a new mindset. If you are feeling under the weather, you can usually rest – but on the Peace Run, you see the benefits of running through the malady. Running becomes the cure.
In Noivedya’s case, an uneasy cold had led him to announce, early in the morning, that he could only promise a few slow kilometres. Instead, overcoming his early-morning faintness, he ran a half-marathon – and was strengthened, not worn out, by the experience.
At one stage, he was set to do five kilometres – but noticed that the team was not there to meet him. Had he taken a wrong turn? Well, obviously not. That was basically impossible. He was eventually led to the only likely conclusion: the support van had accidentally driven into a parallel dimension. This was a worry, because it might not get back in time ...
... fortunately, the truth was not so bizarre. Even on these desolate roads, we often meet with some interested (and interesting) people – and today was no exception.
Ross and Olive Mallory from Rockhampton, Queensland, were on their way to Darwin. Olive runs her own yoga studio, OM Yoga, and invited the team to stay next time we are in Rocky.
We also met Richard and Didi Russell from Shepparton in Victoria, heading to Birdsville and the Roper River ...
Later, we chatted to Gail from Brisbane, excited to have just entered the Northern Territory for the first time, with Zoe (her dog) and Betsy (her vehicle) ...
For Noivedya, it was good to run so far on our final day in the Northern Territory, where he was the regional coordinator. Such a vast area, but only a few places en route to arrange meetings. Most of the meetings were impromptu, with great people along the way. This ensures that, even on the wide and dusty plains, the Peace Run’s message is seen and heard, loudly and clearly, each and every day ...
Time now to rejoin the girls team who are driving 190km to their starting point ...
On our way to our start location, as we crossed a cattle grid there was an excited call from our Mongolian runner in the back of the van: "Mongolia, Mongolia!" Once the cattle grid was crossed we seemed to have 'crossed' into Mongolian land. There was a complete change in scenery at this point. Flat land, dry brown land with only a scatter of trees on the horizon ...
We soon stopped and set Oyungerel out into this new country. It was still early-ish – about 9am so we were all looking forward to getting a good 5km in before the day heated up ...
When you got out on the road, with just the Torch for company and many a km to cover you started to pull yourself away from the sun with its heat and found yourself focusing on the sound of the Peace Flame you were carrying. Time didn't seem to matter after a while, not knowing when the van would pass, you were only enjoying the time out here ...
... every once in a while there would be a new sound as a car or truck passed you, pulling you from your inner focus back to the long straight road as you raised your hand in greeting ...
As Uddyogini got out for her first leg of running we came upon some road works, so she was blessed with a clear flat clay running track right in the middle of the road just for her ...
... Oyungerel also got treated to this, but soon had to clear off as the big machines took over and she moved to the side of the road ...
Irina had opted for 15km today, the most she would have ever run on a Peace Run ...
It was hot when she left for her final 5km stint ...
... and on her arrival at the Van ...
... she was very very red, very very hot but very very happy!
With 15km to go for the day we crossed the border into Queensland!
We are reliably informed that this regal fenceline marks the border between the Northern Territory and Queensland ...
There was a slight miscalculation with the distance today, giving us an additional 4.5km. There were two keen runners ready to finish it off, so it seems we could have in fact done more! Oh well there will be plenty more opportunities as we travel east (and then south) ...
We arrived into Camooweal Roadhouse Caravan Park to a wonderful camping area ...
Thank you Lexi and Ben for your kind hospitality, and to Denis who kindly came out and held the Peace Torch with our team.
Abhinabha was our chef this evening, cooking up a fine curry for the team ...
