We left our accommodation after a good breakfast to meet with the mayor once more before our ascent to the highest altitude so far done in the European WHR: the Grossglockner 2576m above sea level.

The day began with rain so we were quite right in expecting some nice snow when ascending the mountain, which is the highest one in the whole of Austria.

For all the runners that joined us from all over Austria the next 15km would mean an elevation of nearly 1400m. All of us were as prepared as possible for a run in almost winter temperatures. Some of us did not manage to get some warmer clothes, so they had to run happily in short pants!

As we climbed up the "hill" the weather was getting more and more difficult as well as the hard hill-work. The snow was coming onto us from all sides but our wonderful heroes kept on running and running, upwards and upwards.

Some cows looked as though they were more accustomed to the weather conditions than us.

At the highest peak at Hochtor at 2508m we all attempted to gather to make some nice shots in the blizzard and freezing cold conditions and as you can see here!

On the other side Zoltan ran through the tunnel battling against the wind whistling through the tunnel and the icy conditions.

Just a few kilometres beyond the top Petar and Petr decided to 'warm' up with a swim in the small lake.

Going through the storm and half or fully frozen we continued downhill while here the weather was getting nicer and nicer (well less cold and raining instead of snowing).

We continued running downhill with great views of the valley below.

Our first meeting was in Fusch with the mayor Mr. Martreiter. He brought his cute little nephews and told us about his very close connection to sports. He was the first vice-president of Triathlons in Austria! Congratulations! His daughter was also there and she used to compete in triathlons.

We continued our running to the next meeting in Uttendorf, where another sporty mayor received our burning torch. Mr. Franz Niel is an experienced marathon runner and so he sincerely congratulated us for all the efforts we do daily.

Many children greeted us and were as happy as you can imagine when we gave them balloons, which they burst one after another!

Mittersill was waiting already so we had to proceed quite rapidly. Many firemen were waiting eagerly to run with us and accompany the runners with their cars.

One fireman was so brave to run with the torch and helmet!

As well as Ondrej!

Young boys came up with roller blades and struggled right to the front to overtake the torch. Their friends were so eager to run with the torch and smiled so much once they had it in their grasp.

It was a very nice welcome the mayor of Mittersill gave us before we started off to catch up with the runners we sent ahead up the steep hill.

We kept on running until we met in Aurach two very special runners. They were all ready to run with us. We started 6 km before Kitzbuhel with a good pace.

They were not only looking well trained but were actually more than qualified to run. The senior runner is actual the champion in running 100 km the fastest. His time is 7 hours 7 minutes. Very inspiring also his marathon time: 2.26!! I definitely felt it on 3 km of joining him and his son.

As we arrived in Kitzbuhel, more good runners joined our run into the village. It was a very nice experience to share all the running experiences with them.

Hopefully they get free from work tomorrow and join us for some 10 km more!

Kitzbuhel received us warmly and the hotels were very generous in providing our accommodations. Quite happy to have such extremely nice accommodations we went home early. Home sweet home!

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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).

Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.

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