Today was our hottest day of running yet, as we sweat our way up through the Ural Mountains, and were on a quest to find a local swimming hole to cool off.

We are now getting adjusted to the slight change of team make-up, which saw our team lose Lansing in exchange for Simon. Although we’ll certainly miss Lansing, I think that mixing up the teams a bit is great to keep things fresh and part of the joy of the adventure is getting to know our fellow runners, which happens most quickly when you share a sweaty van together.

As we finished our run today, we all agreed that a hunt for a small bit of cool water (say, slightly larger than the melted ice water in our cooler) was in order. It was one of those days where I found myself sweating like I a beast hours after I finished running. It is as though the internal thermostat is broken and the radiator is still cranking away. Although we were hopeful, I was betting that our odds were pretty low of finding a lake or river along the way that would be suitable. In this case, I’m glad my betting instincts were bad.

As we pulled into Kungur, the town we’d be staying in for the night, we crossed a high bridge over the river Kama and looked down to see at least a couple hundred people bathing and playing by a sandy beach area along the river’s edge. The van erupted with yelps of excitement. Well, except for the driver and interpreter, who had no idea what we were yelling about, and were perhaps more frightened than excited.

We got to the hotel, dropped our bags and headed to “the beach”. It was all we could have hoped for. The water was the perfect temperature – cold enough to have plenty of cooling effect, but no risk of cardiac arrest upon entry. We floated and swam, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the local Russians – parents playing with their children in the water, Babushkas lazing by the water’s edge, and teenagers trying to attract potential future mates with Russian rap music blaring from their 1984 Dodson.

As we thoroughly enjoyed this river and saw all the delight that it brought to all the locals as well, I again realized how much we often take fresh water for granted. Not only is it essential for life in terms of safe drinking water, but it is also such a source of enormous pleasure. Wherever people are in the world – whether they are on Lake Michigan in Chicago or the Kama River in central Russia – the local source of fresh water is central to their lives, nourishing both body and soul.