From Wageningen, where the fire was inflamed tonight, via Emlichheim to Schoonebeek. The freedom fire cover 133.5 kilometers in a relay. Deep in the night the runners from Schoonebeek started with a special but long journey.
“We are the only one of the 205 groups who have left Wageningen that also runs through Germany and where a number of German runners also come along,” says Kees Veenstra, organizer of Libertingsfeest Schoonebeek. In Emlichheim a group of Germans connects, including the mayor of the ‘Samtgemeinde’.
Just across the border, the runners are welcomed with an applause by friends and family for the last mile. Here the mayor of Emmen and a young German family connect to make the group complete.
Involving Germany in the celebration of eighty years of Dutch freedom is not a bad idea, says Veenstra. “The theme of our party is connecting in freedom. That is about the connection between young and old, but that is also about the connection between Germany and the Netherlands. We are very good neighbors here, that was a while less, but then that was recovered.”
Almost all age groups are represented by the runners. The youngest is sixteen years old and the oldest is eighty. Different distances were renewed by different people in the relay.
“There are runners who have walked forty kilometers, there are some who ran ten. But for some, the performance of ten was even bigger than that of the people who walked forty. I think that class,” says project leader Harrie Kramer.
The nearly forty runners were accompanied on the way by around twelve cyclists. Kramer: “We cycled in the prince this morning with steadless hands and feet. It was no kidding, but we finished it.”
The runners and the freedom fire were received today in the village in the party tent. It is doubtful whether the runners still have energy left. “But the audience keeps you going, we do it together and we had a very nice day,” concludes one of the riders.
The activities around the Liberation Festival in Schoonebeek started on April 16 and will continue until 9 May.