Nearly twenty thousand walkers start the Alternative Four Days Marches on Tuesday. The walking event, in which each participant composes their own route, serves as an alternative to the Nijmegen Four Days Marches, canceled due to the corona crisis.
In contrast to the Nijmegen Four Days Marches, the Alternative Four Days Marches can take place because all participants walk their own route. In this way they can adhere to the corona measures.
The participants walk a distance of 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 kilometers every day this year. The distances traveled can be tracked by GPS in the special app of the Koninklijke Wandel Bond Nederland (KNWB), the organizer of the free walking event.
Most walkers cover 10 or 20 kilometers, which is remarkable because these distances are not walked during the Nijmegen Four Days Marches. According to a KNWB spokesperson, this is because the Alternative Four Days Marches also attracts new audiences in addition to experienced walkers.
“For example, parents with children who are too young for the Nijmegen Four Days Marches,” says the spokeswoman. “There are also walkers for whom the Nijmegen Four Days Marches is too high.”
Nijmegen Four Days Marches canceled due to coronavirus
The Nijmegen Four Days Marches normally start on the third Tuesday of July. The world’s largest hiking event will be held for the first time in peacetime this year due to measures against the spread of the coronavirus.
In 2019, nearly 45,000 hikers participated. Due to the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19, fewer hikers registered than usual this year. Therefore, for the first time in years, no draw had to take place. The tens of thousands of hikers who have registered are assured of participation at the next edition.
The Nijmegen Four Days Marches of 2021 is planned for July 20-23. The organization cannot yet say whether the corona crisis will have consequences for the hiking event next year.
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