Early in the monring our RV Camper gets an oil change. We have to treat it well for it is our workhorse, storage and kitchen which helps us tremendously on this long and arduous journey.
Our first team out fills the Torches and gets ready for a full morning of running.
Atul ready and eager to run on this relatively cool morning.
In Litchfiled we met Molly O'Connor from the Indpendent Review news where she was enthusiastically reporting on our Peace Run through her area.
Running through these small and quiet towns with lots of nature and peace makes it easier to put in the miles.
On one of our stops along the route we met railroad workers repairing some of the tracks. Keep the train lines functional and safe is important, especially in this part of the country where they depend on the cargo trains to transport goods from one county and state to another.
Sarankhuu from Mongolia starts his run for the day.
There are also many locals who are interested in what we are doing. Pamela from Dassel was thrilled to see us running by her house, not really knowing what we were doing. She drove her car to find us and offer her goodwill and enthusiastic kindness.
There is a 6 mile running trail going through Pamela's town of Dassel to Cokato that her mother helps to maintain. It inspired her to take up running and now she is even more energized after sharing the Peace Torch with us and sharing peace through running.
Meanwhile the women's team was about to get on the road.
Some of the women were enjoying the endless miles of cornfields while waiting to run.
Kshema finally hits the road.
Putu getting ready to go.
A local woman from Cokato, Michelle, stops to share the Torch with our women's team.
Nancy Dashwood, a staff writer from the Herald Journal, travels for a while looking for our women's team. She looks quite happy that she finally meets up with them to take some photos and share the Torch.
The second men's team of Banshidhar and Salil do their miles in the afternoon as well.(Pujari and Nikolaus left the team for a few days to visit some relatives north of our route)
A very kind police officer offers an escort through the last section of their run.
Banshidhar gets a few miles of protection from the local police.
This free rocking chair spotted by the women's team along their route was a tempting sight for a tired runner.
So Mananya decides to take a break on this nice old rocker. Unfortunately for her it would not fit into any of our vehicles.
The first men's team finally reaches Minneapolis with a few hours to relax, so they go to Lake Harriet to cool down at the small beach here.
It was a busy Saturday at the Lake as we tried to cool off along with many locals.
We also had to share the water with this local family of ducks who did not seem to mind.
The women's team had another animal to deal with. They found this huge bear in their apartment and tried to make friends with him.
He finally accepted their presence here and peace and harmony prevailed.
For dinner we were invited to the home of our dear friend and past Peace Runner, Yuyudhan Hoppe. We met some new welcoming friends here and had a toast with some of his homemade Kombucha.
One of our youngest guests at this illustrious gathering.
We are extremely grateful for this kind donation of delicious food from Yuyudhan and his friends here.
Many delicious homemade pies were offered by Edythe Hoppe and her granddaughter Brooke. They spent many hours making these amazing homemade pies for our team and guests. We had almost one whole pie for each of us! We enjoyed them for days and we are so grateful for their heartfelt and delicious offerings.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying them immensely. We are happy and grateful for this kind and delicious offering.
Alexandria Weeds and her daughter Anika share the Peace Torch as well as one of the many delicious homemade pies.
Some of the runners and guests say good bye for now as our host Yuyudhan passes the Peace Torch around.
