Today we had an early start and were picked up from the hotel at 6am. As yesterday we covered the distance left from the hotel, today we turned to the right and saw some truly beautiful spots of the atoll.
At the end of the world...
Since it was a leisurely Sunday morning for the rest of the atoll, this early pick up was an extremely nice gesture from two wonderful ladies: Jibli (Jibbz) Helkena (holding the Torch) and Sylvia (Shia) Albert who volunteered to accompany us on our 45km journey.
... and we're off!
Fortunately we did our usual leapfrogging because the heat started to increase throughout the day quite substantially so we wanted to finish as quickly as we could.
Our trusty support crew and vehicle.
We were really grateful and encouraged that our two new Peace Runners also joined us and ran/walked with the torch on the road.
As we were passing the houses on the road, Jibli’s aunt served us a freshly baked cake from the tropical fruits grown next to her house. Thank you, it was delicious!
Each time the police passed us they stopped at our support vehicle and asked if everything was alright. Jibli would tell them what we were doing and send them back to check on us. A few times they even escorted us the remaining part of our leg to the car.
A nice moment at the Peace Park built by the Japanese in 1987; this is also a very thin part of the island. Most of the time you can see the great Pacific Ocean on each side if you look left to right. Here you just look straight ahead and there is just a thin strip of land and the vast vast ocean beckoning you.
We met some of the local kids along our way, at one stop while waiting for a runner: we went over to say hi!
As Uddyogini then departed to start her run they all jumped up and joined!
They cheerfully accompanied the whole distance of 4 km! And two of them were barefoot…
After a brief rest and drink ...
... we gave them a lift back to their home.
Actually, this is the atoll where everybody knows everybody. It’s either their cousin, uncle, mother of their eldest son’s girlfriend or their relative in some other way. (A friend of a friend counts as a relative ;) ). Jibli’s nephew Leit finished off the distance for the day.
In the afternoon we were hosted by Molly (Acting Secretary of the Minister of Internal Affairs) and her husband who took us on a boat to one of the idyllic outer islands of the Majuro Atoll.
We enjoyed the incredible natural beauty of the coral sand and movie-like tropical scenes. The water was a stunning turquoise. Whilst swimming, we could see through the clear water to the brightly coloured fish beneath.
The Peace Run team were invited to Kathy's place for dinner where Jibli kindly cooked a beautiful meal for the Peace Runners after her long day driving us around, running with the Peace Torch and joining us out on the Lagoon.
We very much enjoyed spending a quiet evening with all our new-found friends and family.
