Early morning start for the team. First up, a happy farewell to our hosts.
Off we go, meeting a few of the local young students from the school we visited last night. They are very keen to experience being a peace runner for a few kilometers.
Our new good friend, Åke Nyström who was organising our visit to Mora, is also a keen athlete we discover. He informed us of the many world famous sporting events that are held every year right here in Mora. Our eyes lit up with the sound of a 90km cross country skiing event in winter and then on the same course a running event through the forest in the summer, and a cycling event held in Mora. In the small town of 20,000 inhabitants, 16,000 competitors arrive every year and 200,000 visitors, it is a very impressive sporting town and we hope the Peace Run can visit again at the time of the big events.
Running through the lovely town of Mora in the early morning
We run the famous last 200 meters of the ski race and under the finish line.
Our friends, originally from Afghanistan, now living and studying in Mora are up early ready to run with us.
Can I come?
Zaki Soltani, 17 years old; Mahdi Hosseyni, also 17; and Javid Shahnawazi, 16 years old have been learning Swedish and studying in Mora for 2 years. They are from Afghanistan and are very bright and eager students. Fast runners too, we discover.
Åke leads the way on his bike, out of the city and onto a beautiful country road.
Good bye and thank you for a very warm greeting into Mora. It was a real pleasure to meet such a nice man as Åke, an excellent mentor to the young men and women who are making Mora their new peaceful home.
The Peace Run team need a rest after running 10km with these very fit guys. And they claim they are not runners.
A real honor for us to meet such aspiring and bright young men.
Hello there, my name is Puruvaj and I am from Serbia, running for peace throughout Europe.
Kamaneeya from Sweden has been with us for two days, translating and running some of the long distances we need to cover.
Malin from Hamburg runs the last five kilometers into Orsa for our next meeting.
At Stadshotell we meet some members of a football team, all from Syria, now living in Sweden.
The youngest members of the football team.
Hasan Louk is a very friendly and warm person. Being able to speak four languages, he translates for us.
Very nice people
Offering their hopes for a peaceful world.
Smiles all around
Beautiful and happy.
Thank you for sharing your time and your big smiles.
We run around the parking lot outside, carrying the torch.
But we can not forget the football!
On the road again
Friendly people along the way.
Rasmivan and friend
Sweden is beautiful.
Our next meeting at Aktivitetshuset Edsbyn.
Young men and women from Syria and Eritrea.
Passing the torch from hand to hand.
Very happy to run with us down the road.
Our new friends say farewell with all their hopes for peace.
Our final meeting of the day was in Alfta with these young men from Lyckebo House. They were mostly from Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea and other parts of Africa.
Everyone was happy to hold the torch and say the word for peace in all their different languages.
This boy, Ali, is from Afganastan and is 17 years old. He ran about 3km with us, and was keen to run to the next town! His eagerness and enthusiastic embrace of the message of the run was a great inspiration! Thank you, Ali!
Many miles to cover before bed. Go Palash.
An enthusiastic passer-by.
The local skaters stop to hold the peace torch.
Finally we arrive at a beautiful setting to sleep the night. A fantastic home-cooked meal was awaiting the runners, from the owners of Vardshuset Bollegarden. Thank you for a lovely stay!
Sweet dreams
