Walk of the world

From practice march to world run
The history of the Nijmegen Four Days Marches begins in 1909. The (mainly military) participants in the four-day distance marches (with various starting points in the Netherlands) organized by the Royal Dutch Association for Physical Education (KNBLO) spent the night in the Prins Hendrik barracks in Nijmegen. Instead of the usual brown beans with bacon, they got a three-course menu, which consisted of soup, an AVG and a dessert. This hospitality was rewarded and the walkers returned to Nijmegen again and again in the following years. In 1925, the city definitively became the starting point of the Four Days Marches.

The number of participants increases over the years: in 1925, 766 people sign up for the walking tour; in 2019 there are 44,702. The group of walkers is also becoming more diverse, although it is not until 1919 that the first woman successfully completes the Four Days Marches. After this, women are no longer a rare sight; female walking clubs (such as the Blauwvosjes) simply cover the distance in their heel shoes. Due to the arrival of the Olympic Games in Amsterdam in 1928, international walkers are also participating for the first time that year. At that time only a handful of countries were represented, nowadays there are about seventy per edition.

The Waalpainting unites the past and present of this unique walking event. The boxes symbolize the early years of the Four Days Marches; the globe refers to the international character that the Four Days Marches now have. The flag of the Four Days Marches waves in the background. This green flag with an orange cross was adopted in 1909 from the KNBLO. Of course there is also a prominent role for the gladiolus. Hikers receive this flower when they have survived the trip; just as gladiators in Roman times were buried under gladiolus when they defeated their opponent. Finally, there are also twelve titles of music songs about walking to be found in the globe. Can you find them all?