Thank You Jolly Runners

Daily miles: 30.2 | Total miles: 10,520.29

I got up at 5:30am to be ready by 6:30am, since Jay told me that some runners would be meeting us in the morning. Packing, getting ready, and heading downstairs — and there they were: a whole group of runners, the Jolly Runners from Ranipet. What a great way to start the day. I greeted them and we took pictures. Soon after, Jay came down and we took even more pictures.

Jay had already met another group of runners at 5am. They gave him two pairs of shoes and a lot of food. It wasn’t the number of runners that made the moment so special, but the genuine love and care I felt from each and every one of them. Truly incredible.

Many of them ran with us for about 5 km, and one even pushed my buggy for about a mile. I think he sensed that running with the buggy is a bit compromising and challenging — but how nice for me to run freely and use my arms again. Running in a pack in India at around 7am… what a feeling.

They eventually said goodbye after some joyful miles together, and one young man stayed with us for another 10 km or so. He also pushed the buggy for quite some time, and we chatted, sweated, and ran together.

Around mile 7 we stopped for our first coffee. The coffees here are small and very tasty. We ate some bread, dates, and nuts that we had received from the runners. Then we continued on — passing construction sites, tackling some inclines, and moving through a wonderfully humid, hot morning without any rain. At one point it looked like it might rain, but it never did.

Eventually the young man took a bus back, and Jay and I continued our day. We stopped for cool drinks, coffees, and chai. We met so many people along the way — stopping, chatting, taking pictures — and like yesterday we greeted countless people with “Vanakkam” and "Namaste," which was mostly very warmly received.

When we arrived in the town where we wanted to find a room, Jay of course organized us a nice place — which turned out to have no water in the shower, but who needs that anyway. I really needed to do laundry, so I spent about an hour handwashing everything in a bucket. Then I used my tent poles to create a drying line, hung up all my clothes, and turned the fan on full blast.

My internet connection is very slow, but a bit faster outside my room, so I’m now trying to upload my socials — it might take all night. We’ll see.

It was a great day on the road. I very much enjoy the friendliness and love of the people.

See you tomorrow, Andrea