Six-day beach finished in Huisduinen: “The fraternization is fantastic”

Halfway through the last stage, near Julianadorp, the conditions with a gentle breeze and a lovely sun, seem ideal. Yet the devil of this six-day event is in the tail. “The beach here is narrow and it slopes down,” complain two young ladies. “Then you always walk with one hip higher than the other. That will bother you.”

Another participant, wearing a summer hat and sunglasses, says that those tough moments also make it beautiful. “You have those phases that you think: “why am I doing this?!” And a little later you think: “ooh, look how beautiful this is!” That it varies so much makes it very nice.”

The participants have their own methods to keep the activity, which in itself is somewhat monotonous, a bit interesting. “I notice more and more seals,” says a man in a cowboy hat. “And for the rest it is mainly musing along the beach and watching the waves.” The two young ladies take a different approach and have a music box with them. “We enjoy listening to music,” said one of them. “And there is also a lot of time to think and chat.” They walk on to the sounds of their anthem: Ramses Shaffy’s ‘Let me’.

Dancing on the finish line

At the finish, dozens of people are waiting for the arriving participants to help them through the last meters with loud applause. Apparently some walkers still have energy left after all those kilometers: two ladies spontaneously start a dance once they cross the line. “The beach six days brings fraternization”, says a relieved and newly arrived participant. “At the start in Hoek van Holland you don’t know each other. And that gradually changes. You sit together on the terrace, you help each other. And here you drink a beer together. That’s wonderful.”