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One big happy family

The friendship among runners in one of the toughest competitions strengthens with each day. Most of the competitors are satisfied to have made it through all the trouble at the start and to have run all those long kilemeters through Nullarbor, so now they are ready to relax a little untill they reach Canberra.

"Only twenty days are left and that's the most important thing for me at the moment," said Stefan Schlett, who ran in shorts for the first time. His legs were, compared to Karl-Heinz's, white as snow. Stefan's legs were the joke of the day. The runners were, more than the stage itself, excited about the barbeque in a pleasant camp in Coonalpyn. Everyone was happy to contribute five dollars, the organisers took care of everything else. The inviting smell was in the air before 5 p.m., when the group was joined by the ones who were accomodated in hotels. The runners had a nice relaxing chat with members of their escorting teams, and there were no uninvited guests to disturb them. The ones who didn't help prepeare the food were appointed to wash the dishes. The "victims" of this unpleasant chore were Jermolajevs, Molnar and Derxen. They are not exactly thrilled about these kinds of chores, so their fellow runners awarded them with some extra work. The three of them looked like one big happy family.

Although everyone ran to the best of their abilities, today's stage didn't bring any surprises. Anatoliy Kruglikov won yet again, in front of Derxen, Sakurai and Molnar, who really outdid himself today. He even managed to beat Dusan Mravlje in the last few kilometers, but most importantly he managed to leave Mick Francis behind. Mick payed the price for yesterday's fast run, finishing 19 minutes behind Molnar on today's stage. George Audley gained another 18 minutes on Karl-Heinz Kobus and needs only another 12 minutes to get rid of last place. The rest of the competitors finished more or less in their usual places. Tommorrow brings another 66 hot kilometers to the city of Keith.

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