From Schkopau, Germany, where I had the thrill of running into a Dow plant with about two dozen good looking young German men to a crowd of several hundred. My run started at noon west of Halle. The run through the city of Halle was difficult – lots of traffic and uneven terrain with a strong headwind. But the sun shone brightly and I got to do my last two miles on a closed roadway and then with the Dow runners. After a wonderful passing of the baton to Heiko we were treated to an incredible barbeque with lots of yummy vegetables. I think I had the best BBQ corn on the cob, called maise, ever.

We’ve been igniting along the way. That is the term given for our spreading the cause and educating people about the drinking water problem. The kids are the most receptive. I gave a bunch of stickers out at a kids bike race today hoping they will end up on all of their bike helmets.

Publicity is getting out and the videos and blogs on the BPR site and sites like Runners World are well done and fun to watch. We had the pleasure of having one of our favorite PR people and a photographer in our car today so we got to see lots of video pieces off their equipment. We really are isolated from what’s happening outside our vans. I have not heard world news except through emails from friends, and don’t even know all that is going on amongst the runners.

The Green Team was spared the bad weather the past two nights and we are eating up the sunshine. Laura has been matchmaking. We are working through logistical issues, scheduling and personality differences all the time. The Green Team is decorating our van. So far we have a fish woven for me by Sylvia Maratova, a green plant from Taeko our Japanese runner, a stork feather picked up by Fabio our driver, a whimsical green dressed Bett;y with carrot red hair on the hood from Simon, and a creature in water from Jason. We await Laura’s addition.

The toughest surfaces for me have been the cobblestones, and then the roadways where there is little shoulder. I love the bike paths. I confirmed today with Victor and Richard from the Orange team that in many cases we are running further. The entire route has been measured by GPS but sometimes the satellite goes out. That would also have happened when they measured. When the satellites are out, the section is not included in the total mileage. This makes me feel even more confident about the pace I have been maintaining, well below the required 9 minutes per mile.

The team as a whole seems to have come around to good health. Folks are establishing sleep patterns and early injuries are healing or being successfully managed. We now have the primary doctor on board and he is great. It’s been fun to get to know the Day Pilots. Everyone on the crew is absolutely fabulous to us and a lot of fun.

We have the afternoon off and are on our way to Dresden for the night. We plan on some exploring and having dinner out. Auf wiedersehn! for now…………………………