As He Runs He Listens To The Hawks And Feels At One With Nature.

On Thursday morning we breakfasted on the terrace at Stefanos Place before heading off to Kassiopi. We took Robbie and Liz, a young couple also staying at Stefanos place with us, as they were without a car and we had suggested 'an outing' the night before if they wanted....

They were ready and waiting at 10am so we all set off, and found out about one another as we journeyed.

Travelling about the world opens up the possibility for many new connections and sharing. Conversations with newly made friends can be transformative as new worlds are opened up through the sharing.

Robbie and Liz graduated from Bath university a year ago. As we journeyed we talked about the campus and the huge changes and expansion and development that has occurred in the thirty years since I was living in Bath and running around the fields there. Now where I ran is a wonderful sports complex and much more; we spoke of Canary wharf where Liz works and the changes there too from. I remembered running through the deserted docklands in 1986 on my way to my fastest marathon; deserted and I was running alone at the time amazingly amongst thousands - even in 1986 - on the road too; suddenly Seb Coe who I had known when I was (briefly!) at Loughborough university had come running towards me, with a group of his friends, out on a training run watching the marathon - 'Go Julia' - he shouted, lifting my spirits. I may have been alone on the road, but I was supported by friendship as I went....

It is evident always how much life is always moving; change is happening and we must adapt to it or we become stuck - sometimes we 'are' the change or we 'effect' the change and sometimes we don't want the change, but as the serenity prayer says;

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

But even within 'the things we cannot change' we can always change our attitude and open ourselves to something different within us. This then changes how we see things, how we relate to others and new possibilities open up. The wisdom comes from being responsible always for every thought we think, for our response to things and to our actions therein

We dropped Liz and Robbie off and pointed them towards the harbour for breakfast.

Thanasis and Nikos were waiting for us when we pulled up outside Nikos' Bar Angelos, It seemed only the day before that we had all been together taking part in the Kassias Dias race last May.

Thanasis was called away but not before he had suggested Anadi and I compete in the triathlon that takes place in Ipsos tomorrow - Sunday 14th!

As yet, we are still negotiating whether we can hire bikes so que sera sera....!

Nikos made Anadi and I a coffee, and then Anadi went outside to make calls and check emails and Nikos and I recorded our podcast.

He spoke of how the economic crisis in Greece has brought people together; people are helping one another, pulling together, creating things together and a sense of community that had been lost is being born again.

He said that this is the positive to come from the financial crisis and the unexpected change, people are connecting and uniting and creating new things together and community spirit is strong and growing.

There has also been an huge increase in the amount of people running in Greece; it has trebled; as have the amount of races available to take part in.

Nikos spoke of running as a natural action that is within us all; we ran as children and so returning again to that motion connects us back to the child within; he says that with all the trouble and change around in people's lives, running gives perspective and allows the troubles to leave the mind; as well as the physical benefits that occur.

The races that are springing up means that the community and the children too are working together. Nikos can see the possibility of a new way of attracting tourists to the beautiful Island of Corfu; new possibilities are being born; creation born from the destruction; we live in a world of polarity, yin and yang, dark and light, the ebb and the flow.

Wisdom is born from going with the flow and being open to and seeing where that flow is going; the possibilities within the changes we did not anticipate.

I really enjoyed talking with Nikos - and then it was time for our run to Mount Pantokrator; the highest point on the island of Corfu.

Nikos went to change into running kit and then we met him at the end of Kassiopi and we set off up the winding climb to the top of the mountain; there is a monastery situated there - Pantokrator means ruler of all - in the past churches were often built at the highest points so as to be nearer to God.

After running for awhile I looked across from the olive grove we were running through to an incredible view; Nikos told us it was Albania.

As we ran we talked, and the act of running - nothing else to do - allowed our energies to engage and relax. We shared experiences of running, of our lives, of martial arts which he and Anadi had practiced extensively, of our families, of loss, and of change and of re birth and possibility.

We reached a high point and looking out at nearby Albania Nikos told us the story of the Corfu channel incident which consists of three separate events involving Royal Navy ships in the Channel of Corfu which took place in 1946.

During the first incident, Royal Navy ships came under fire from Albanian fortifications. The second incident involved Royal Navy ships striking mines and the third incident occurred when the Royal Navy conducted mine-clearing operations in the Corfu Channel, but in Albanian territorial waters, and Albania complained about them to the United Nations.

This series of incidents led to the Corfu Channel case, where the United Kingdom brought a case against the People's Republic of Albania to the International Court of Justice and  Diplomatic relations were only restored in 1991...

As we ran we learned about each other's lives; but also of the history of the land we ran on; we learned about people, all living their lives just as we are now and as Nikos said - we think we have endurance to run up to the top; but in the past our ancestors were travelling up and down with no path to follow carrying sheep back for their families to eat...

It came time for him to return to Kassiopi to open bar Angelos and Anadi and I were continuing to the top despite heavy rain that had started to fall; Nikos found rain jackets in his ruck sack for us and he advised us to return if lightening struck ...

A mile and a half from the top and lightening struck and thunder started to roll around the top of the mountain ; we turned for home and as we ran the road was disappearing under a river of water, the lightening was flashing through the sky and thunder clapping all around us...

We ran through the elements feeling free and alive and wet; and when the lightening was striking overheard some fear, aware of the danger...

I remembered Nikos saying to me earlier in our interview that when he runs he likes to listen to the hawks and he feels  at one with nature.

And as we ran through the storm I felt part of everything around me, at one with nature and my nature.