International Four Days Marches Nijmegen - History

History

Physical education (P.E.) in the Netherlands during the early twentieth century had been organised by teachers and former soldiers, who provided instruction in school gymnastics and basic military training. In the autumn of 1904, sergeants from the 6th Infantry Regiment in Breda founded a football club. This created much excitement among the soldiers and on the first anniversary of the club, they organised a tournament which became the 1906 and 1907 Field Army Sports Days. The success of their initiative motivated various sports associations and social organisations to set up an umbrella organisation.

On 3 April 1908 the Dutch Physical Education Association (NbvLO), the first sports umbrella organisation in the Netherlands, was founded in a coffeehouse, het Zuid-Hollandsch Koffiehuis in The Hague. Based on an idea to organise a four days march to the sports days in Breda, proposed in July 1907 by Lieutenant C. Viehoff from Arnhem, the NBvLO designed 15 routes for the first Four Days Marches in 1909. The day after the Queen’s Day celebrations, then in August, Wednesday 1 September, 306 participants set out from ten barracks on the 150 kilometre walk from garrison to garrison. They were accompanied by ten civilians. In Friesland the poor condition of the roads caused their march to be cancelled and three other sections were omitted due to an outbreak of cholera in Rotterdam. ‘The Four Days’ theme was very popular in those days. At various times of the year, other events were held such as a four days (horseback) riding event, a four days cycle event over almost 500 kilometres and four days rowing on our rivers (some of which still exist). In 1910 the Association limited its four days marches to one route from Arnhem through Doesburg, Zutphen and Apeldoorn.

The importance attributed by the government to the performances achieved was already reflected in the recognition of a Decoration to military participants for their marching skills (the Four Days Cross) by Queen Wilhelmina in October 1909. Utrecht (1911), Nieuw-Milligen (1916), Den Bosch (1918), Amersfoort (1919) and Breda (1924) joined Nijmegen as a starting point or centre of the Four Days Marches, before Nijmegen became the permanent host of the Four Days Marches in 1925. Despite a gradual rise in the number of civilian participants, it was not until 1919 that the first woman successfully completed the Four Days Marches: Mrs N. van Stockum-Metelerkamp from Amersfoort.

In 1928 the first walking club was founded in Rotterdam (Rotterdamse Wandelsport Vereeniging). With Amsterdam hosting the Olympic Games, march leader Jonkheer W. Schorer decided to invite international delegations to the Four Days Marches. Delegations from Germany, France, Norway and the United Kingdom arrived in Nijmegen. The forty British participants of the Road Walking Association were divided into four groups according to social class, all of which won a group prize. Even today, a relay competition is held for the ‘Nijmegen shield’, to which these four medals are attached!

The fame of the Four Days Marches grew during the 1930s, thanks to the efforts of the Koloniale Reserve (Colonial Reserve) in Nijmegen, and in particular the Indonesian ‘nasi’ meal prepared by their cooks. Walkers took home unforgettable memories of pillow fights in the attics of the Prins Hendrik barracks and in the tent camp on the Molenveld. In 1932 H.A. van Mechelen composed the music for a Four Days Marches anthem to words written by J.P.J.H. Clinge Doorenbos. As the years went by, both the organisation and the participants learned what made the Four Days Marches such a special event, renowned throughout the whole (walking) world. While some forty percent of the participants dropped out in 1921 due to the heat wave around Amersfoort (602 reached the finish post), in 1939 there was only a 2.39% drop-out rate – an unrivalled record.

After the Second World War, despite the ravages caused by the bombing of 22 February 1944, Nijmegen took up the challenge of reviving the Four Days Marches. Thanks to a fund-raising campaign among the population and the efforts of many volunteers, its efforts were successful. In 1946 there were more participants than ever before, a trend which would continue. But the war had left deep scars in 1954 the Four Days Marches organised by the Nederlandse Wandelsport Bond (Dutch Walking Association) started in Apeldoorn. However this did not stop developments in Nijmegen and after several decades there is room for both: Apeldoorn starts its marches on the second Tuesday in July, Nijmegen starts on the third Tuesday.

So after September, August and June, the “last full week of July” (decided on by Major Breunese) has become history.

Rising numbers of participants arriving from all over the world has meant that the Flag Parade had to be relocated from the courtyard of the Prins Hendrik barracks, via the Molenveld and the Wedren to the Goffert stadium. Increased prosperity and leisure time meant a rise in the number of countries taking part in the Four Days Marches from 7 or 8 to 60 in 2004. Moreover the predicate ‘Royal’ awarded to the Association (1958) and the participation of HRH Prince Claus resulted in a spectacular rise in the number of participants. By that time, more than a hundred countries have been represented at some time in the Four Days Marches, including many from Eastern Europe after 1989.

In 2004 a restriction on the maximum number of registrations is set for the first time. The maximum number of 47,000 registrations is reached within 6 weeks. One of the 47,500 participants for the 89th Four Days Marches in 2005 is the record-holder Annie Berkhout from Voorburg, a woman who succeeded in finishing the Four Days Marches 66 times. She is an onlooker of the far-reaching measure of a registration limit set by the Stichting DE 4DAAGSE, led by chairman Wim Jansen, being put into practice since 2004. In 2005, the registration limit led to an official drawing by lot, whereas this was not necessary in 2006. The number of registrations for the 90th Four Days Marches did not reach the limit.

The 90th Four Days Marches will always be remembered as "the march that lasted one only day". After one participant died during the march and another after finishing the first walking day, and a large amount of the walkers had needed help with heat-related problems during the march, the Four Days Marches were cancelled after one day. This had not happened before, even though walkers have died during one of the marches, for example in 1972, when the distances were shortened by 10 km each day. The participants that started on the first day of the 90th Four Days Marches have not received a medal, instead a remembrance pin was sent to them. The pin features various symbols denoting the 2006 situation, with a scorching sun in the middle representing the harsh climate, surrounded by a tear shaped border, denoting the sadness of the cancellation of the marches.