It’s amazing to run at midnight and don’t have to wear the reflecting vest or the head lamp. Yes, the sun sets after midnight at this part of the world. I always wanted to do the “Midnight Marathon” in Alaska and this shift in Siberia is giving me the feel of it.
Three cops’ cars received us at the exchange point today. We have been having cops escort since last month from the Belarus border. Sometimes having cars in the front and back when we run obstructs the run and we wished we had only one in the back that day. But, after the midnight the fog started getting intensified and I couldn’t see anything expect the tail light of the cops’ car in front of me and it really helped having a car in front. I just focused on five strides in front and enjoyed running hard that day in the cold breeze. That was one of my fastest run so far and having shorter goals all along helped me achieve it.
Cops been very helpful and cheerful so far and they exchange after 15-20 miles. Some of them played English music loudly using their microphone and made us swing our hands in the air while running. They announced about the run to the blocked traffic and got us some cheer at 1:00am. They took pictures while we ran and after our run. They stopped when we had to attend to nature’s call during our run. They decorated their cars with BPR stickers. They have been blessings in these Siberian highways.
We passed thru Kemerovo, Achinsk and Krasnoyarsk during this shift. The 6th largest dam built across Yenisey River is in Krasnoyarsk and we didn't had permission to visit the dam.