Chemnitzer Lauf-KulTour starts Germany's longest charity run for the sixth time
The time has finally come: this Wednesday (5 September, around 6.30 pm), twelve students from Chemnitz University of Technology will set off on their sixth circumnavigation of Germany. The probably longest relay race, in which they will cover around 4000 kilometres in 16 days, is a project of the Lauf-KulTour association for the benefit of UNICEF Germany. The young runners will complete their first kilometres at the Chemnitz company run in the city centre.
"With the Chemnitzer Lauf-KulTour, an idea has developed into a real institution. The line-up changes from year to year, but the goal remains the same: Doing good through running," said Mayor Barbara Ludwig, who will be firing the starting gun. "I am particularly pleased that the students will be offered a very special setting this year with the company run. I am sure they will receive loud support from the people of Chemnitz along the route and a lot of tailwind for their tour of Germany."
During their non-stop relay race, the runners and their eight companions will pass through more than 150 cities. The athletes will be collecting donations for the UNICEF "Schools for Africa" project and will be welcomed along the route by UNICEF working groups in Freiburg, Bonn/Cologne, Münster, Bremen, Hamburg, Rostock and Frankfurt (Oder), among others. At the same time, they will be promoting Chemnitz as a science and university location throughout Germany. The participants of the Lauf-KulTour are expected back in Chemnitz on 21 September.
They will be running in an alternating system that rotates day and night so that each runner is in action for one hour every eleven hours. The relay race will run clockwise around the country close to the border. First the Vogtland is reached, later the Bavarian (rpt Bavarian) Forest. The route then heads westwards over the Alps and then along the Rhine to the Ruhr region. Further destinations towards the North Sea coast are Bremen, Hamburg, then the Baltic Sea, before returning along the Oder-Neisse border via the Zittau Mountains.
The aim of UNICEF's "Schools for Africa" campaign is to provide 13 million children in eleven countries on the continent with an education and thus a better future. UNICEF supports the construction of schools and sanitary facilities, trains teachers and provides furniture and school materials. For every person who accompanies the runners part of the way, one euro goes to UNICEF. The distance travelled does not matter.
The Lauf-KulTour is sponsored by the City of Chemnitz, the Chemnitz-Zwickau Student Union, the TU Student Council, the Friends of Chemnitz University of Technology and the local running clothing manufacturer thoni mara. Anyone wishing to accompany the students on their tour can do so conveniently online. A Google Maps application updates the current location of the runners and cyclists every 10 seconds.
Coordination and press contact: Sebastian Ködel, telephone 0178 1615350, e-mail sebastian.koedel(at)googlemail.com