An early start was required as our accommodation resumed its normal role of classroom shortly after 7am when students began arriving. A small team began the day’s mileage, covering some delightful kilometres through the rural countryside of southern Germany. The majority of the team headed to Riedlingen, another lovely city. We had a surprising meeting with the Mayor, who is the fastest ‘running’ Mayor in the area with a marathon time of 3:08.

He ran with us through his city for 5 minutes and gave us a refreshing start to the day. Afterwards we had a wonderful exchange of experiences.

He participated in an international relay run to Minsk in Bella Russia, around twenty years ago. Going from Germany to Minsk they received donations on the way from different municipalities and in this way raised a lot of money for the children who were victims of the Tsjernobyl disaster. Next year, starting on the 15th of July, he will participate in a relay run that follows the Donau from west to east, to the Black Sea.

He expressed his understanding of the cause for which we are running, and was very happy to receive us. We were grateful for his inspiration! He presented a framed certificate to the team, with a message for the World Harmony Run. Then he gave us a big crate of apples, and gave each of us a nice towel from the city.

On our way from Bingen to Sigmaringen we met some great people from local running clubs, who ran with us for 5km to the centre of the city, where we had a warm welcome from the Deputy Mayor of Sigmaringen.

On our way into Sigmaringen, we had a beautiful view of the main landmark of the city: the castle, where the Prince still resides. After the reception, the Deputy Mayor, the P.R. person, and the runners, took off with the torch, leading the way out of the city, on our way to our next destination: Constanz.

With a beautiful view over the Bodensee Lake we ran into Constanz, the border town between Germany and Switzerland.

We ran in a big group at an easy pace, and the air was soft and sweet. As we approached the city centre we crossed the bridge which was lined with European flags, and we had to stop to take in the breathtaking view of the snow-capped alps on the horizon. We ran down to the edge of the lake where stands an overpowering figure of a woman: a huge turning statue, balancing a priest and a king in each hand, symbolising the balance of the two powers.

We completed our day’s running there, and entered Switzerland.

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