Participate in the Nijmegen Four Days Marches. Four friends from Dalen would have liked to do that this week, but they grabbed the required starting tickets. The men did not leave it at that and came up with an alternative walk.
“The plan to participate in Vierdaagse originated on a Saturday afternoon, while enjoying a glass of beer. We thought: dude, we are people over 50, we go for a walk once,” says Peter Hilvering, one of the four friends. “And why walk? Well, the wild hair is now going a bit. We hoped to be able to participate in the Nijmegen Four Days Marches, everyone really liked that. But getting a ticket was pretty difficult.”
“I think there can be a maximum of around 48,000 hikers. When we wanted to register, the counter was already at 100,000. We then came up with this alternative: walking in four days of valleys to Nijmegen,” says Hilvering. They are the same days at which the Nijmegen Four Days Marches will be held this week. “We started the day before yesterday, with Ommen as finish. Yesterday we went on to Deventer and today we end in Rhenen. And tomorrow we will arrive in Nijmegen.”
The average distance of the stages is around 40 kilometers. In preparation for the challenge, the foursome has traveled twice 30 kilometers. “That is actually a bit too little, because we have pains and blisters on the feet everywhere. I will save you the details,” says Hilvering. “But for every inconvenience we have an ointment or a remedy. I bought the entire drugstore. So we put ourselves completely in the morning and then we set off again.”
The Nijmegen Four Days Marches ends tomorrow at the famous Via Gladiola, the nickname for Sint Annastraat in Nijmegen. It is not yet clear where the friends’ hiking ended. “I have not the foggiest idea. it pours it poursif we say. Our friend André is the tour guide, he plans the route. It will be fun anyway, because tonight three more friends will come over and they will also be coming tomorrow. “