After rain the previous day we woke to a fine morning for a day of many kilometres, but not so many meetings. We took advantage of the later start to clean the vehicles thoroughly and then commenced running at 11am. With the extra support from our hosts of Saarbrucken we were able to split into three teams and divide up the distance to be covered.

With the leapfrogging technique we had 4 to 5 runners running simultaneously through the rolling green countryside. Sunday motorists were very generous with supporting hoots and waves.

We all lunched together in a roadside park surrounded by huge deciduous trees, after which we completed the remaining kilometres to Bad Dürkheim, famous for its giant 1.7 million litre barrel, which is used as a restaurant, and which is the Guinness record holder.

Amalendu, Australia

At the city festival in Bad Dürkheim the torch was received by Mayor Wolfgang Lutz on stage with a beautiful speech. With Axel Bergner of the local sports and running club he then carried the torch with our team across the town to the famous Big Barrel, where he kindly invited us for some non-alcoholic drinks and sharing of experiences. Even in the small town of Maxdorf 10 km on, Mayor Eckhard Leyser received the runners with warm words and carried the torch for a few steps towards Ludwigshafen.

The World Harmony torch became part of the "Spring Race" in Eberbach. Timo Bracht, world class triathlete (8th place World Championship Hawaii 2004, and German middle distance triathlon champion 2004) held the torch at the start of the half-marathon, passing it on to the 3 members of the World Harmony Run team, who carried it over the whole distance.

Before the start, Bernhard Martin, Mayor of Eberbach, held the torch together with legendary Olympic skiing champion Rosi Mittermeier, and the two "athletes of the year 2004" of Eberbach, Timo Bracht and Angelika Merkel.

Rosi Mittermeier, who enthusiastically welcomed the initiative, is happy to receive a "World Harmony Run" T-shirt together with Christian Neureuther. She immediately put it on before giving the starting shot for the half marathon.

Vasanti, Germany

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