The day started with rain and this was to persist throughout the whole day until we reached our final destination in the Austrian Alpine village of Heiligenblut.

We ran through the torrential rain 25 km away to Ferndorf where the mayor awaited us. We were all dripping wet and the mayor looked quite bemused. He was however very honoured that the World Harmony Run passed through his town.

At Spittal we met the Director of Sports and Culture outside the city's theatre-former castle.

He mentioned that Spittal was a city of sport and comedy. He also mentioned that each year for the past 45 years they have held an international choir festival at the theatre and in a way he said they are practicing harmony.

By midday, after covering 49 km we had reached Mollbrucke where we met the mayor, who was also one of the town's policemen.

We wondered was he Austria's answer to a Wild West sheriff? For a short time the rain eased and it looked as though it could stop, but as soon as we started running again it recommenced raining. One of the locals had the right idea by wearing a great big hat.

At Obervellach we had a marvellous welcome with a sign 'World Harmony Run 2006 this way' and the World Harmony Run Song playing and they also had made a World Harmony Run display board. We met the mayor, who was a mechanic and he tried to fix one of our van's ventilation system, but unfortunately could not completely fix it - at least he tried.

By the middle of the afternoon the rain still continued and it became colder as we ascended the mountains but we still kept on smiling.

We passed many typical small Austrian villages in the valley with the mountain slopes rising steeply.

At Winklern we met the deputy mayor in the small local restaurant and we were relieved to be given hot cups of tea to warm us up.

The temperature had dropped to 11 degrees Celsius, a difference in temperature of 25 degrees to what we have been used to. It was nice for all of us to sit in the cosy room with the sound of the rain pattering against the windows and the mountain scenery of low clouds hugging the steep forested slopes.

About 5 km from Heiligenblut we passed a fantastic waterfall, and as we looked ahead and upwards we could see the mountain peaks covered with snow.

This mountain range forms part of the Austrian Alps. As we approached Heiligenblut (which means Holy Blood) the highest peak in Austria, Grossglockner at 3798m came into view with the steep slopes covered in snow.

The air felt noticeably colder and fresher. The pine forests were covered in low clouds and water droplets hung on us, as they did on the tree's needles.

In this most beautiful and picturesque Alpine town we met the mayor and representative for sport. We arranged to meet him in the morning when he would send us off on our steep ascent up the mountain at an altitude of nearly 2600m.

We decided to get an early night, as we would have some challenging running conditions tomorrow - steep ascents and the forecast of heavy snow up on the mountain summit. The town's church was beautifully lit up at night with the snow-capped mountains in the background. It was like a scene from a fairy tale.

With the sound of the mountain stream clearly audible from our accommodation we all fell soundly asleep.

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Distance: 120km

Team Members:
Anete Klavina (Latvia), Anna Lesmann (Germany), Anne Schulze (Germany), Dipavajan Renner (Austria), Edmund Blab (Austria), Mark Collinson (England), Martin Prettenhofer (Austria), Ondrej Vesely (Czech Republic), Petar Mihaylov (Bulgaria), Petr Machacek (Czech Republic), Pratul Halper (Austria), Sandro Zincarini (Italy), Terezia Hammel (Hungary), Veronika Kuliskova (Slovakia), Zoltan Theobald (Hungary).

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