Nijmegen marches, July 21st until July 24th

[Dutch Mosin]

I'm sure some of you heard about this 4 days march.
It was held for the 93rd time this year.
Maybe some of you who were in the military even walked this one a couple of years ago.
This year, me and the Mrs. walked 40kms (25 miles) per day.
Almost 41.000 people started to march on the 21st.
About 38.000 finished in Nijmegen on the 24th.
Me and the Mrs. were among them.

On the last day the Dutch army build a pontoon bridge so the walkers could cross the river Maas in the city of Cuijk.
I found a site that has lots of pictures of that last day so you get an impression of what it was like.
BTW....volledig scherm means full screen.
Check it out.

Enjoy.

http://picasaweb.google.nl/photohouse.n ... 4603402194

http://picasaweb.google.nl/photohouse.n ... Cuijk2009#


Met vriendelijke groet,

Martin

[Niner]

The worlds biggest walking event. Looks like lots of interesting people participated. Pairing off and dressing alike seemed to be popular. However, the only thing I could really understand was Warsteiner. Bet they sold a lot of beer. What does "Ik Ben Uitgeloot mean"? Saw that message on one girls shirt.

Saw some place that those who finished were given some kind of badge or token to show they completed the course. What does it look like?

[joseyclosey]

Martin, Well done to you and Mrs Mosin.

Joe

[Dutch Mosin]

Thanks Joe and Robert.

The worlds biggest walking event. Looks like lots of interesting people participated. Pairing off and dressing alike seemed to be popular. However, the only thing I could really understand was Warsteiner. Bet they sold a lot of beer. What does "Ik Ben Uitgeloot mean"? Saw that message on one girls shirt.

Saw some place that those who finished were given some kind of badge or token to show they completed the course. What does it look like?

You are right Robert.
Dressing alike was very popular this year and yes.....they did sell a lot of beer, but only to those who watched along the course.
The weather was great during all 4 days, except for one 3 hours rain shower on day 3 and one on day 4 just before we entered Nijmegen again.

What does "Ik Ben Uitgeloot mean"?

I don't know the English word for it, but I'll try to explain it in my own words.
48.317 people had registered for the Nijmegen Marches.
There is however a limit of 45.000.
Both the course and the organisation can't handle more people.
What they did was, they took all those who registered for the first time and just picked names until they reached the 45.000.
3.317 people were not allowed to start.

When you complete the course you receive a medal.
Not just another marching medal.
By Royal decree of November 21st 1928 military personnel was allowed to wear this medal on their uniform.

This is what the medal looks like.








KNBLO means Koninklijke Nederlandse Bond voor Lichamelijke Opvoeding or Royal Dutch Union for Physical Education.
Vierdaagse Nijmegen means Four Days Nijmegen.
The word Marches is left out.

Met vriendelijke groet,

Martin

[Niner]

Cool looking medal. Where does it rank on a military dress uniform? On a US Army uniform, in my day, the Vietnam issued service thing with 60 device given by the Vietnamese ranked last, just behind the Vietnam service ribbon issued by the US and the National Defense Ribbon that everybody who made it through basic training was awarded.

[Dutch Mosin]

Thanks Robert
I think it's a cool medal too.
Most important to me however is not the medal, but what I had to do for it to get it.

I had to check about the ranking of the medal.
It is ranked almost last, just before various medals of international organisations(like the UN) and a couple of foreign medals.

Met vriendelijke groet,

Martin