From the Gobi Desert in Mongolia where we are camping. I woke in UB (Ulan Bator) refreshed and thinking about how positivity can change the world. I'm amongst so many positive people on this journey who have or will make a significant difference in the world. As I wandered through UB, attended our exchange event at the Parliament Square and bought some Mongolian souvenirs, my thoughts were centered on how I personally could emerge from this odyssey without the character impediments I have come to recognize in myself. Then another of life's obstacles intervened. Team Silver, for the second time in three days, was in another dramatic and life-threatening car accident. As we were leaving UB we were in a four car accident caused by a drunken driver. Our lingering question, why us? why twice?

As I walked around UB and spend more time in Mongolia, it is so refreshing to be around warm people. You wave and they wave back. You smile and they smile back. They help you. Many know English or at least try and the signage is generally in both Mongolian and English so you know where you are and what's behind the doors. There are also alot of street sellers who get persistent, mostly young boys selling watercolors. I purchased two pieces from one of a group of young boys only to then be followed around by the pack saying essentially "buy from me, buy from me." The artwork is interesting and inexpensive as are the wool products. I found some great Mongolian wool slippers and bought a pair for myself and for my sister, perfect for winter climates like Vermont and Colorado.

After a great lunch, we headed out of UB with our guide and driver, for what was to be our first run day in Mongolia. We are now on the 3pm to 9pm shift. We gassed up and then were moving along with traffic out of the city. We were happy and laughing when all of a sudden we were braking hard and I heard skidding and looked out the front window to cars spinning and sliding and missing and hitting and then crash! I remember thinking I was dreaming a terrible nightmare, that this was not really happening, not again. Every one in the car got shaken and juggled around but all the stuff we've had to squeeze into this smaller van kept us cushioned against serious bumps and bruises. When we came to a stop and looked out, we first saw the drunk man who caused the accident, ranting and raving on the roadway and covered with blood. The next scene for me was a young woman emerging from a car with her young child. She was in the second car that got hit and sustained the most damage. We were the third car. Our exit door was smashed in and would not open. We all climbed over the front seat and out the front door. I ran over to the woman who was crying and holding her young child of about three or four years old who was hysterical. As I approached her another child, a young girl of about seven years, walked around from the back of the car crying and trembling. I grabbed her and we all huddled in a big hug with them trembling and crying. Then the mother held tight to the younger girl as I did to the older. She spoke no English. We were joined in our tragedy and in our gratitude for being alive. Soon a man came over to speak to them, made a phone call for them, and after checking out the condition and placement of their car, sat the three of them in the back seat to wait. I returned to my team where we huddled together and said our thanks recognizing our connection to each other and to life. Plans were made to get us a new vehicle. Meanwhile a traffic jam had formed, police were arriving and we decided to walk south to meet up with the pilot van. First I went to check on the woman and her children and gave them some drinks. It was incredibly hard for me to have to leave them. I wanted to sit with them until a family member came. They were so alone yet so together. A mother with her two children. There is no greater love connection.

We had no serious injuries amongst our team members. Emmanuel suffered a bump on his head having hit the window, David hit his knee and we all have generalized aches and pains plus the emotional trauma. I was stretching my leg when it happened and tweaked my knee a bit. We all decided to run and that was a great therapeutic decision. We actually managed to make up all the time that was lost due to the accident, over an hour, and had very good runs under the circumstances. This was also because of the scenery. We were running through this incredible vast expanse of fields, horses, sheep and goats, off the road, on the road, near us, far from us, just everywhere. Herds of beautiful stallions grazed around us, some saddled with riders gorgeous in the setting sun. One of our techical people likened it to being on the set of a National Geographic Magazine. So appropriate. We slowly worked our way south to the Gobi Desert where tents awaited our arrival after dark. After a delicious meal under starry skies, cool and breezy, we climbed into our tents and cushy sleeping bags for a sleep of the dead. Thankfully not really of the dead. Thankfully we are here to tell our story, in the Gobi, moving even closer to our finish line and the familiar and safe haven of our home country.

Water is life. Pass it on!