ANPThe first participants just before the start
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 04:01
At 04:00 sharp, the first walkers started the 105th edition of the Nijmegen Four Days Marches. Like every year, the walking tour is held from Tuesday to Friday. On the first day, the day of Elst, the walkers walk through the Betuwe.
Nijmegen Four Days Marches started
A total of 47,000 people have registered, 6,222 of whom are military personnel, the organization reports. About 3,500 people have not collected their starting permit, writes Broadcasting Gelderland. In total, more than 43,300 people start the walking tour. Not a record, according to the broadcaster, but a lot more than last year when almost 38,500 people appeared at the start of the walking event.
The average age of the walkers this year is 48.8 years. In 2019 it was 53 and in 2022 49.5. Almost 60 percent of the participants are male and just over 40 are female. More than 17,000 people are taking part in the walking tour for the first time. And 22 people try to reach the finish line in a wheelchair.
Not only Dutch people participate in the walking tour. More than 6,800 participants come from 77 different countries, ranging from Afghanistan and Canada to Guinea and Ethiopia.
All European countries are represented at least once with a participant from Moldova. The military participants come from 31 different countries.
Busy Four Days Marches
The festivities that are held before and during the walking tours already started last Saturday. The Four Days Marches were also well attended yesterday. A spokesperson tells ANP news agency that three locations of the parties became full, but that many people still managed to get a spot.
Compared to the weekend, it was rather busy in the center of Nijmegen yesterday, especially because walkers came to collect their starting permit.
Among other things, the performance of Snollebollekes attracted many people. According to the spokesman, the evening was “busy, but fun” and went without any significant incidents.
Last year, the Four Days Marches was shortened by one day due to the heat. Tuesday was canceled because it was 37 degrees that day. It was the first edition since corona, when the event was halted for two years.
View a retrospective of previous editions of the Four Days Marches here:
More than a hundred years of the Four Days Marches, that’s how it used to be
2023-07-18 02:01:23
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