Walk 111 kilometers, start in the middle of the night and arrive soaked. For Gijs Driesprong from Breda, his run for freedom was quite an ordeal. With four others they brought the liberation fire from Wageningen to Breda.
At the harbor in Breda it is still quiet during the arrival of the runners, unfortunately the rain keeps a lot of spectators away. That should not spoil the fun for Gijs, he looks back on the trip with great pleasure. “It was a nice, warm night,” he says cheerfully.
“We only had a heavy shower in Breda-Noord and it has continued to rain since then. That is a pity, because people stay at home, while it is an important event,” he says.
Gijs participated because the Second World War still deserves attention today. “That way we don’t forget what happened and we don’t just let it happen again,” he says. He is proud to have finished the relay race: “It feels like a victory.”
Whoever runs 111 kilometers has a lot of time to think, Gijs noticed. “While walking, I thought about the situation in the world and the war in Ukraine. Because although Liberation Day is mainly about the freedom of the Netherlands, the war in Ukraine also shows that it is not self-evident, according to Gijs. “It shows that freedom is very fragile and that things can turn out differently just like that. That’s why it’s important to think about it.”