Our morning begins with a tour of the German knight order castle in Dzialdowo. The city official who guides us then joins us out of town for 300 metres. We are surprised when 5 kids, who ran with us yesterday, all of a sudden pop up from a side street and join us to the city border.

Our running route is very scenic this cloudy day. Walls of deciduous forest line the narrow roads, and sometimes the tree crowns meet and create shady tunnels. From time to time the background forests give way to golden fields. Between the forests lie quaint little villages.

In Lubawa we have a short ceremony. Here we are invited to a nice table of watermelon and sandwiches. A few inspired kids join us out of town.

Ilawa is a beautiful city with lakes and lots of green. Flags ready, a bunch of us are standing on its streets, waiting for our runner to arrive, whom we shall join towards the meeting place. During this time an inquisitive boy comes up to us and asks, “Why are you running?”

One of us answers cheerily something like, “Oh, just for the sake of running.”

“Oh! Can I join you with my friends?”

“Sure!”

He then skedaddles into an apartment building and after a minute he comes out with a few friends. So, together we make our way towards a sports hall, where we are warmly received by the Deputy Mayor and two other smiling city representatives, in front of a generous table of fruit.

In Mikolajki Pomorskie we have a small but friendly meeting with the merry city representative and a few gathered folks. It rains slightly and is quite cold, so we are glad to be offered some warm tea and coffee with biscuits, under a parasol. Some active, enthusiastic children then join us out of town.

In Sztum we have our last meeting for the day. It takes place in the courtyard of a castle-like building. People dressed in mediaeval garb are waiting for us there and soon we witness knights battling it out with swords and chains on the field. A “slightly different form of sport” they call it. Then cheerful children athletes in yellow join us towards the town border.

In Malbork our whole team joins forces to do a comprehensive car cleanup. The reason is that the next day we’re just taking one van to Scandinavia, while the other will be driven to Berlin to wait for us until we get back to these latitudes. While cleaning, a flock of curious, sparkly-eyed kids assemble beside us. First they only watch in silence, listening to us speak English. Then some giggle a bit at what we’re doing. It doesn’t take long, though, until we’re in full-fledged conversation. After hearing about our run, they ask us, “Can you please run with us?” To be sure, we don’t need much convincing. So, we take five from cleaning, fix up a torch and let the kids take us for a run along their streets. The kids really seem to be having tons of fun and are very playful and talkative. When we hand them some of our excess fizzy water and soft drinks they literally go wild with excitement over these presents. Their exuberant life energy spreads to us and gives us a lot of joy and fresh energy.

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Distance: 150km

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