At 6 p.m. on the last weekend of June 2019, the MINDA team started the sixteenth 24-hour run of the Union Minden at the sports field in the Mittelweg in Minden.
50 Mindaners ran in turns at day and night times and raised a real running enthusiasm. It was not decisive who was athletic or not. The goal was to keep on, to pull the team together and not to lose the fun of running in order to reach a maximum of laps. Because each runner wanted to support the charity project with this sponsored race, which did much good for the region in the last years.
The running team at the age of 3 to 81 years reached with support from Lower Saxony, that means 6 employees from Hohmeier from Stadthagen, a total lap record of 1283. This corresponds to a distance of 486 km, a distance from Minden to Brussels. The moral support, however, came in any case from the families of the Minda team. It was great fun for the children to cheer for their parents while they were running. The usual Mexican waves of the team also motivated the runners to top performances.
Two years ago it was the continuous rain and the muddy dirt track that made the race more difficult, but this year the team fought against 35° and rising dust clouds on the dirt track.
"At night we even needed our running jackets at 12° C"! The runners couldn't believe it during the day. Because with the rising sun the enormous heat began and sun cream was essential. A thick, red layer of sand could be seen on their faces, the drinks and the tent at the edge of the track. But the team took care of each other and made sure everyone drank enough to keep the circulation going.
The team spirit was great at this event. Spontaneously they grilled to motivate each other or at night they boiled coffee to stay awake. Especially at night there were fewer runners than during the day. There was no question about it; you just stayed longer so you wouldn't let the team down.
Sweaty, exhausted and happy, the runners jointly mastered the final round at 6 pm. "We did it again somehow!"
Thomas Bouza Behm, Chairman of the Kinderschutzbund, thanked MINDA and the organizer for the sponsoring for his organization.
