Tens of thousands participate in traditional Walk Along the Wire

Foto: Borut Živulović/BoBo

The walk along the path where Ljubljana was surrounded by barbed wire during WW2, and the run of threesomes have concluded the 61th edition of the Walk Along the Wire. The fastest hikers, who set off for the 35-kilometre feat early in the morning, finished the walk in five hours.

Runners could choose between a 12.5- and a 29-kilometre-long distance. In total, 40,000 people participated in the three-day event.

This year the organisers have presented a new activity. At the initiative of the Ljubljana branch of the Union of the Associations for the Values of the National Liberation Movement of Slovenia (ZZB NOB Slovenia), the participants of the walk took one another by the hand at the sound of a siren at noon, and in this way surrounded Ljubljana with a living ring as a symbol of friendship, cooperation and love for the city.

The Walk Along the Wire is a free event and takes place every year on last Thursday, Friday and Saturday before or on 9 May, which is when Ljubljana celebrates its holiday and Europe marks the end of the Second World War. The walk takes place on a nearly 35-kilometre path around Ljubljana where during WW2 barbed wire surrounded Ljubljana. The city had been initially occupied by Italian and then German forces.

A. Č., MMC; translated by K. Z.