As we said goodbye to Germany and moved into the Czech Republic today, we were greeted with two surprises. One was slightly saddening, the other quite exciting.

Sunil ran the 10-mile stage that led to the border crossing, and it was a tough slog uphill most of the way. Since this particular border crossing did not allow pedestrian crossings, Sunil jumped in the van a few meters before the checkpoint and then Lansing took over for the first miles of running in the Czech Republic. This was our first border checkpoint on the ground during the run (since the other borders we crossed within the EU did not have checkpoints), and fortunately all went smoothly with the crossing.

The first surprise that greeted us within only a few miles of crossing the border was a series of prostitutes soliciting customers on the side of the road. They stood alongside the road, dressed in clothing unmistakably announcing their professions, often waiting within very close proximity to wooden shacks that undoubtedly served as “short-term hotel rooms”. What made the scene incongruous was the fact these prostitutes were in the middle of an extremely rural area, which was something I’d never seen before. Clearly, there must be less strict prostitutions laws in Czech R., which leads to some cross-border visits by some Germans. Although it was not a happy sight, it was a good eye-opener for us as we head further East, and further into territory less familiar to most of us.

The second unexpected happening as we crossed the border was immediate attention from the Czech press. We had three reporters stop alongside the route at various points, taking photographs and some quotes. Luckily, they all spoke a little German so that Brynn could act as our team spokesperson. Our one Czech runner, David, had been on a national radio show earlier in the day and the press were already asking about him, trying to find out where we would be running. The media attention energized us and carried us through some fairly hilly sections before we handed off to David’s team, which would eventually make it into Prague just after 3am.