Jul 18, 2023 at 06:00Update: 31 minutes ago
The 105th edition of the Nijmegen Four Days Marches started on Tuesday with 42,528 runners. New during this walking performance tour is the use of a safety car.
The starting shot for the 105th edition of the Four Days Marches in Nijmegen was fired on Tuesday at 4 a.m. The runners who cover 50 kilometers for four days in a row were allowed to start with this. The walkers on the 40 kilometers followed an hour later and the 30 kilometer runners left between 07:00 and 08:00.
The first participants arrived in Nijmegen before 10 am. Every year, a small group tries to be the first to return to Nijmegen on the 50-kilometer course, but speed walking and running are prohibited according to the regulations of the Four Days Marches.
Although more than 42,000 runners started on Tuesday, all 47,000 available tickets had been sold. This means that 4,472 people who had registered declined to participate in the walking performance tour.
No explanation for large number of non-runners
The organization of the Four Days Marches has no good explanation for the large number of non-runners. “The weather is fine and will remain good this week. It can’t be that,” says march leader Henny Sackers.
The starting tickets were sold according to a different system this year. They sold out completely in less than two days. Entrants had to pay 109 euros immediately and lost that money if they did not show up. The De 4Daagse Foundation says it will investigate why more walkers than usual have not started the journey.
Last year, the Four Days Marches was not fully booked for the first time, because many runners were still taking into account a return of the measures due to corona. This year the event sold out faster than ever. The Four Days Marches’ own weather service predicts four days with “fine walking weather.”
For the first time a ‘broom wagon’ is coming along
For the first time, a so-called safety car for the walking legion will go out over the course. The occupants of the so-called ‘broom wagon’ check road closures, medical aid stations and checkpoints, among other things.
Four Days Marches runners are not allowed to overtake the broom wagon. If they do, they do so at their own risk. The safety car is necessary, because every year a small group of runners try to finish first in Nijmegen. This had led to dangerous situations in the past, because these walkers walked in the dark on unfenced public roads.
Stichting De 4Daagse guarantees the safety of the course behind the safety car. Anyone who misses a checkpoint due to speed walking will be disqualified.
It is not clear whether the early runners who stayed behind the safety car on their first walking day at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. In the past, very fast runners were sometimes back in Nijmegen shortly after 09:00.
2023-07-18 09:56:23
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