It is a special day for 17-year-old Ilse de Jong from Grootebroek. She graduated from secondary school and is walking the third day of the Alkmaar Walking 4 Days with her grandmother Vera and mother Sylvie. It is also a kind of farewell walk, because she will soon be leaving for America.
The Pilgrim’s Route was on the program today, a beautiful route through the Heilooërbos, towards Landgoed Willibrordus in Heiloo where the caretakers of the first aid had to treat the necessary feet. Afterwards, some blessed water could be drunk from the well at the pilgrimage site Onze-Lieve-Vrouw ter Nood.
On this day there will be a large number of hikers. At the Alkmaar Walking 4 Days you can also choose to walk for only two days. “We noticed that there is a lot of demand for this,” says Jeroen Wouda van LeChampion. “Many walkers come to Alkmaar for two days to train for the Nijmegen Four Days Marches.”
For Ilse de Jong, it is mainly a day to take a nice walk with mom and grandma and chat before she leaves for America for a long time. NH News spoke to her at the start
NH News reports extensively on this 15th edition of the Wandel4daagse from Wednesday to Saturday, with daily videos and a live broadcast on the last day. We will be live at the finish at Waagplein from 13:30 to 14:30. This broadcast is made possible in part by organizer Le Champion.