Lauf-KulTour is on its way
After months of preparation, it finally started on Wednesday evening: the 6th Chemnitz Lauf-KulTour set off on its journey around Germany. The students from Chemnitz University of Technology covered the first five kilometres of the 4,000 kilometre route together with the participants of the Chemnitz company run. They then set off in the direction of southern Germany. The first destination was Werdau, reached around midnight. Today they continue on towards Bayreuth. What is probably the longest non-stop relay race in Germany is a project organised by the Lauf-Kultour association in aid of UNICEF.
The twelve athletes will pass through more than 150 cities over the next 16 days. With this campaign, they will collect donations for the UNICEF project "Schools for Africa". At the same time, they will be promoting Chemnitz as a centre of science and university throughout Germany. The runners are expected back in Chemnitz on 21 September.
Along the route, UNICEF working groups in Freiburg, Bonn/Cologne, Münster, Bremen, Hamburg, Rostock and Frankfurt (Oder), among others, will welcome the runners and their eight companions. It is planned to set up information stands to draw attention to the school project for Africa. Athletes from schools, clubs and universities will be recruited to take part in the run. In Münster, the participants in the Lauf-KulTour will be welcomed in the market café. Frankfurt (Oder) is planning a public welcome by the city.
The runners will rotate day and night so that each runner is on duty for one hour every eleven hours. The race will run clockwise around the country near the border, first reaching the Vogtland region and later the Bavarian Forest. It then heads westwards over the Alps and then along the Rhine to the Ruhr area. Further destinations in the direction of 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 give 13 million children in eleven countries on the continent an education and thus a better future. UNICEF supports the construction of schools and sanitary facilities, trains teachers and provides furniture and school materials. 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. For every person who accompanies the runners part of the way, one euro will be donated to UNICEF. The distance travelled does not matter.
Anyone who would like to accompany the students on their tour can do so on the Internet. A Google Maps application updates the location of the runners and cyclists every ten seconds.
Coordination and press contact:
Sebastian Ködel, telephone 0178 1615350,
e-mail sebastian.koedel@googlemail.com