>From Sarnia in Ontario, Canada. Northern Michigan was beautiful. Our first 3am to 9am run took us to the shores of vast Lake Huron. Both myself and Jason had guest runners who knew our Nederlands runner Rudy from local runs with Running Fit. I ran third with Jeff Sullivan a triathlete in his 40's. Jeff's wife would not get up with him at the ungodly hour needed to drive two hours to run with me at 6am so he planted his bike and rode back to his car after our run. We had a great time chatting and watching the sunrise. The road was fairly flat with acres of cornfields and lots of barns. We ran through Sandusky and Carsonville, small communities with "spic n span" houses and yards with more of the luscious green grass I now have come to associate with Michigan, along with healthy, large shade trees. The temperatures before sunrise were in the 50's with clear skies and a nearing full moon. Jeff was a wealth of information about Michigan. We discussed topics like ethanol production to offset the disintegrating automobile economy, the tough winters particularly on the northern islands, his current work as a computer specialist and in the cornfields when he was young sorting the male from female plants and experimenting with methods to increase production and quality.

Our new driver is Kevin Dudley, our Hawaii runner Laurel's brother. Kevin is learning trial by fire how to take care of us and get to places via GPS. He's a quick study and will be a fun part of the family, albeit a short but sweet stint, since we are done in just eight days. Kevin and Laurel are both originally from Vermont, born and raised there. She lives in Hawaii now and he lives in Colorado Springs. We certainly share many of the same Vermont ways, like where we like to eat (not fast food or chain type places).

Early in the morning the police stopped at our first exchange to inquire as to our activities. We were then warned that a "big party" was underway and we should be careful because there were alot of drunks on the road. It was advice well taken and we proceeded with caution. During our second leg when Laura was running we encountered a closed road and had to detour. This has happened before. When it does, we reroute the GPS, sometimes resulting in more mileage, sometimes less, and alert the pilot van and the runner either by cellphone or by driving back to them. This detour gifted Laura with about two miles of wonderful dirt road off the main roadway.

Jason was our last runner as we hit the shores of Lake Huron at Port Santilac's Harbor of Refuge. A boatyard full of recreational boats filled the harbor. Large ships appeared on the Lake's horizon. Lake Huron is a commercial boat passageway between Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. Its massiveness is impressive. In northern Vermont we have Lake Champlain across which you can see its opposite shores, just about six miles at its widest crossing. You can see the Adirondack Mountains in New York. In contrast you see nothing when you look across Lake Huron except water and flat horizon and the occasional sea vessel.

Lake Huron is an amazing body of water, a bright and clear blue, looking very cold and clear. It is the second largest Great Lake and the 5th largest fresh water lake in the world. (Remember we were on the shores of Lake Baikal in Eastern Russia, the largest fresh water lake in the world, just last month.) Lake Huron amazingly has approximately 30,000 (yes! that's THOUSAND!) islands and the longest shoreline of all the Great Lakes, taking into account the island shorelines. Lake Huron is 206 miles long and 183 miles wide, with an average depth of 59 meters (about 120 feet) and its deepest point being 229 meters (about 690 feet). Its volume is 850 cubic miles, it is 577' above sea level and it has a 22 year retention/replacement time. The latter means that over the course of 22 years all of its water is replaced with new waters, an amazingly short period for such a large lake. It has one bay which is big enough to be one of the world's largest lakes and it was the first of the Great Lakes to be discovered by the early pioneers. As you can tell, I was completely intrigued by this body of water and remain so. Unfortunately in our short time here there was no ready, safe access to jump in and experience it first hand.

Canada is an amazing country. It always appears in order and tidy to me. Its main industries include timber, oil, hydropower, diamonds and uranium. Crossing the border with our Canadian teammate Jason into his home was fun. His excitement was contagious and his pride about his country genuine. I've not yet had a bad visit or experience in Canada and fully expect this short run through to be rewarding for all.

Sarnia is a small town along the waters of Lake Huron and the St. Clair River which runs under the Blue Water Bridge which we crossed over from the United States. We came over from Port Huron. Sarnia has a riverfront of stores and restaurants. The town is full of gorgeous colorful flowers spilling out of interesting pots, grounded and hanging, at virtually every street corner. The town is a hub for garage and yard sales out of its storefronts. They were operating even on a Sunday afternoon, along with a hemp "head" shop and some elegant gift shops. After some gift shopping, Laura and I had a bite with Mary and Shiri in a local pub with a water view before hitting the sack to get ready for our next 3am shift. I love it! I'm getting my daylight fix and a good breakfast after our run. I feel alive again, like a real person, and getting more and more excited about the days to come, our next "golden" day shift, and the finish line. I feel especially alive being near water bodies like awesome Lake Huron. It makes you feel small in the grand scheme of life, and helps nurture my constant reflections on the water crisis.

For anyone interested, Blue Planet Run gear is now available for purchase at shop.blueplanetrun.org. All proceeds go to support BPR sustainable water projects.

Water is life. Pass it on!