This morning Rupasi stoked the fire in preparation for breakfast ...
... it's great having a whole house to feed the team and relax before the start of the day.
Our girls team were first on the road this morning ...
... we started running from our accommodation along the Kings Highway on our last section into Canberra.
It was exciting for the team to see the signs to Canberra today, but a little sad as well. This would be the last day on the road for us all. Putting those thoughts to the back of our mind we all took off to do a 5km stint each before our school visit ...
... it seemed as each person went out, the headwind picked up a little more, with our last two runners running into what felt like a hurricane!
The wind was so strong that the dust was stinging as it hit your legs and face ...
... the head had to stay down to offer some protection ...
... yet the Torch coninued its forward progress, ever onward.
While we were running and struggling into the wind, up ahead in Canberra some of our other team members were already meeting with their first school ...
It is sometimes challenging to present to an entire school – the large numbers and disparate age groups can make it more difficult to hold everyone's attention and ensure the experience is worthwhile for all involved. Yet when the staff and students are all in tune with the event and offering their wholehearted and enthusiastic participation and support, the result can be a wonderful and memorable experience for all.
Assistant Principal, Michael Bradley, arranged for the entire school of 430 students to meet our team this morning in the hall at St Anthony's Parish Primary School in Wanniassa. Even as the kids were filing in, class by class, there was an air of eager expectancy of something special.
Following the presentation inside the hall, everyone came outside to the enormous playing fields adjacent to the school and spread ourselves around the field in groups of classes to represent the various continents of the world.
The Peace Torch was then run by each group, accompanied by one of the Peace Run team, from one continent to the next: the Kindergarten classes were Australia ...
... who passed the Torch on to the Grade 1 students, who were Africa ...
... Grade 2 represented Europe ...
... who then passed the Torch on to ...
... Grade 3, Asia ...
... then on to Grade 4, North America ...
... Grade 5, South America ...
... and by the time the Torch reached Grade 6, Antarctica, ultimately the whole school had joined in to complete our own mini-"Peace Run around the World."
Our special thanks to Assistant Principal, Michael Bradley, and all the teachers and students of St Anthony's Parish School for your welcome, your enthusiasm and good spirits. We loved our visit and look forward to returning next time the Peace Run is in Canberra.
By this time, our boys team has started their section through Bungendore and towards Jerrabomberra ...
Our last day of proper running. Tomorrow it’s the Closing Ceremony and is largely a day of symbols – just a ten minute run and a brief ceremony with invited officials and friends. I feel a little underwhelmed at the prospect of this event which seems slightly low key when set against the huge human endeavour which has preceded it ...
... then I remember the Taoist proverb, “The journey is the reward” and I realise that our work here is done for today and we need to mark the end of this particular journey.
The experiences which have been shared by all the runners and everyone we have met along the way have been numerous, manifold and luminous. I believe that everyone who has come into contact with the Run will be changed in some small or great way, and that there’s no way of knowing how the inspiration received in Australia may become manifest in the near or distant future ...
... yet for those personal inspirations for a better, more peaceful world to become reality and find fertile ground, we must continually nourish ourselves and our world with the power of Hope.
Both teams then converged on Jerrabomberra Public School, just a short 15km from our finish point – our final school visit for the journey around the continent.
We met with the students in Year 3 and 4. We ran into their hall with their Principal, Ms Chris Hunter announcing us to cheers from the students ...
... they truly do know how to welcome a team. We felt a little like superstars.
We were all very impressed at how quickly the students guessed which country we were each from. With the whole team there, there were many countries to guess!
The students then performed a song for us - Kum ba yah, my lord, Kum ba yah! – which happened to be Bahumanya’s favourite song from when he went to school. And so easy to sing – I know a few of us sang along with the students ...
... Olivia and Edward then came up to accept the Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of the school before we all filed outside to hold the Torch.
The students all formed a large circle and with two torches, each student was given ample time to make their wish for peace.
At the end we all crowded together for a group photo before our team had to depart ...
Just a mention of an unsung hero on this year’s Run. One of the most important things to a tired runner is having a bed to sleep in at the end of the day. Abhinandan has worked tirelessly throughout the Run and for some months before it, organising accommodation along our epic journey. In itself this is quite an undertaking but this is made more challenging by the fact that we simply do not have the resources to pay for up to 15 runners for 112 nights(!) and he had to find places who would let us stay for free or at a greatly reduced rate. He has been spectacularly successful in his mission and we salute him for his incredible faith and tenacity and the countless blissful slumbers we the runners have enjoyed en route. Thank you!
Another friend worthy of a mention is Son, a Vietnamese student who has just completed his Masters’ here in Canberra.
We met Son when he came to work at My Rainbow-Dreams vegetarian restaurant. As we have got to know him, we have all been impressed by his incredibly hard-working and self-giving nature ...
... he is also our biggest fan and he has followed every single report from the road with very close attention. Today he sacrificed his plans, to join us in our last few steps and took photographs of these immortal moments.
To our great joy, he gave us all a cake each in the evening, made by the British Cake Master, Nurari. Thanks to Son!
We were to meet up with some of the runners from Females in Training ...
... some of these runners had come to the Opening Ceremony back in April and ran with us then out of Canberra – and today ran with us back into Canberra too.
The last 15km we ran in as a team. All along the bike paths and back to where it all began ...
... taking those final few steps and in doing so linking up our run was something very significant for a number of us.
Looking out over the water to the bridge we ran out on over 100 days ago, it seemed such a distant memory, when getting back to this point seemed almost impossible. The experiences we have had in this time, the people we have met, the friends we have made – have changed so many of us ...
There are always times in our lives – big or small – that become life-changing for us. Taking those final few steps today – closing the circle around the continent – made you reflect on the person you were before this journey began, see the person you are now, and offer gratitude for this opportunity to in some small way offer something to this vast and beautiful land, Australia. Whatever we have offered pales into insignificance against what we have gained, but we have offered all the same ...
Four Mongolian heroes!
For the Peace Run, the end of one journey marks the beginning of another and this constant unfolding is one of its most striking features. Runs are about to start in Africa, Europe and the USA and the burning flame of aspiration for a better world which is embodied in the Torch will continue to burn brightly in every corner of the world until we reach our goal of world peace. In the words of Sri Chinmoy, “World Peace can be achieved, revealed, offered and manifested on earth when in each person the power of love replaces the love of power.”
This evening we were treated to a most delicious meal at "My Rainbow-Dreams", the Sri Chinmoy Centre-run cafe in Canberra. They have shown us so much support over the last 112 days that to bring the whole team together for a final meal in their restaurant was a perfect ending to our time on the road ...
... and boy did they spoil us – we had a three course meal with light refreshments and wonderful company. They are not normally open during the evening and are such a busy cafe that I am sure it was a big effort to get everything ready for us, but looking around you would have never guessed. All the workers there were so happy to see us, it was like returning home after a long time away ...
... super-delicious individual cheesecakes – one each!
