A number of participants in the Nijmegen Four Days Marches started on Tuesday, while the first walking day was officially canceled due to the expected heat. Spokesperson Babs Rijke of the 4Daagse Foundation calls this unwise, because there are no facilities along the way.
“We understand the sentiment, of course, but we think it’s unwise. Otherwise, we won’t cancel a day, of course,” says Rijke. “We have no facilities along the way: no medical aid stations, no water taps and no signage. Our teams have not closed anything today, so there is normal traffic on the route.”
According to the spokesperson, the people who went for a walk on Tuesday do so entirely on their own responsibility. “So we hope they have a backup plan, and people stay sensible and get picked up when things really get going.” Rijke does not know how many people went for a walk on Tuesday. “It’s not our responsibility, so we don’t have a view on that either.”
The Nijmegen Four Days Marches was supposed to start on Tuesday, but the walking day has been canceled due to the expected heat. The now three-day walking tour takes place from Wednesday to Friday. The organization called the weather conditions “unique” and “worse than in 2006” on Tuesday, when two hikers succumbed to the heat and the rest of the Four Days Marches was cancelled.