Nijmegen Vierdaagse
Registration - Lodging - Travel
Walkers may pre-register by mail, although the payment by Eurocheck or bank transfer seemed a little complicated to me from the USA. The forms can be requested from KNBLO, see their website for contact information. I registered the day before the event, Monday, and encountered very short lines and an easy process. Once you have attended, an entry form is mailed to you each year. The correspondence address of the KNBLO is:
KNBLO
P.O. Box: 1020
6501 BA Nijmegen
The Netherlands
Phone: (024) 365 55 00 for residents of The Netherlands
( 31) 24 365 55 00 for people outside The Netherlands
Fax: (024) 365 55 80 for residents of The Netherlands
( 31) 24 365 55 80 for people outside The Netherlands
E-mail address: 4daagse@knblo-nl.nl
Fees: Pre-registration is now required, with a maximum number of participants set at 45,000. See the event web site for details.
Class of Registration: You may register for the Regulation Distance to earn the medal by finishing it each of the four days. This varies by age and sex. Or you may register for the Optional Distance, which is 10 kilometers more than the regulation distance. Anyone over age 12 may register instead for the Certificate Distance of 30 kilometers and receive only the certificate, not the medal, unless entitled to earn the medal for 30 kilometers due to their age. The scheme presently goes like this:
Men and Women age 12-15: 30 Regulation, 40 Optional.
Men age 16-18 and 50-64 and Women age 16-57: 40 Regulation, 50 Optional, 30 Certificate.
Men age 19-49: 50 Regulation, 40 Optional, 30 Certificate
Men age 65 and Women age 58 : 30 Regulation, 40 and 50 Optional
There are special rules and requirements for military units.
Housing: The registration form also has a housing request form so you can arrange your lodging at the same time. The town arranges for lodging for the participants in a variety of venues - hotels, home stays, camping, hostels. You can specify what you wish on the form. Due to my late request at the end of June, I ended up at a nice small hotel just a block from the train station in the town of Boxmeer, a 20 minute train ride south of Nijmegen. This ended up being more convenient than staying many places in Nijmegen, since I could easily walk to the train station in Boxmeer and then from the station in Nijmegen just a few blocks to the starting point. Information about hotels: ( 31) 900 112 23 44 (75ct/min). Information about lodging in private homes: ( 31) 24 323 30 20 (only in the period from May 25 until September 1, 1999).
Transportation: Travelers may fly into Amsterdam, but also check fares into Brussells, Belgium - I ended up with a better deal and the train fare to Nijmegen was the same. Nijmegen is a 2 to 2 1/2 hr. train ride from either city. Nijmegen is near the eastern border of the Netherlands. Renting a car is another option - they drive on the same side of the road as in America. To get around once you are there, you can rent a bicycle for the week or pay for weeklong taxi service. Buses and trains serve the area very well. An enormous square block bike park next to the walk start points attests to the popularity of that mode of transport.
Confirmation of registration is sent with a card to present on the Monday to receive the start cards and goodie bag. All walkers get a small booklet containing the basic rules and maps of the routes. They also receive a lovely full color magazine with articles and details about the Vierdaagse. Pictured at left is the main area for registration and start at De Vereeniging.
The 30K walkers and late registrants start from the Julianaplein, a few blocks further from the train station than the main start at the De Vereeniging. At each site there are food vendors, souvenir shop, restrooms, and places to sit and socialize. Prominent at De Vereeniging is the Compeed booth selling blister plasters.
On Tuesday morning, walkers must then pass through a start punch area. Start times vary by distance. The military teams start from their own camp area, the Heumensoord. The 50K walkers start from 4 am - 4:45 am, the 40K walkers from 6 am - 6:45 am and the 30 K walkers from 7:30 am - 8 am.
Nijmegen
Nijmegen is the oldest city in the Netherlands, a Batavian oppidum called Noviomagus conquered by the Romans in the time of Julius Caesar. It was a favorite vacation site for Charlemagne before the turn of the first millenium, and he built a castle where the present day Valkhof now sits, near the Waal bridge. Historic treaties were signed here in the 1600's to establish the "peace of Nijmegen" and establish France's power in the region. During World War II, Nijmegen was occupied by the Germans and then bombarded by the Americans in February, 1944. Operation Market Garden - the subject of "A Bridge Too Far," had its target of capturing the Waalbrug (bridge) in Nijmegen and the Arnhem bridge - which proved to be a bridge too far. Jan van Hoof of Nijmegen prevented the Nazis from destroying the Waalbrug. The US 82nd Airborne Division crossed the Waal on September 20, 1944, as commemorated in the memorial passed on the first day of the walk. A Canadian armed forces cemetery in Nijmegen has special ceremonies on the third day of the walk.
The history of Nijmegen is also the history of my mother's family, who came from Uden just a few miles outside of Nijmegen and emigrated to America in the last half of the 1800's, settling in Oregon. As the only Catholics in the area they settled in Oregon, they stayed together as a community and did not marry outside of the group until after the 1950's. As a result, I am startled to see the intense resemblance in the faces of the folks in the countryside near Nijmegen with my cousins in Verboort, Oregon. During my stay for the walk, I stayed in Boxmeer, a 20 minute train ride south of Nijmegen. This proved to be very convenient, with only a short walk from the train station to my hotel and in Nijmegen just a few blocks from the train station to the site of the Vierdaagse.
To unwind after a day of walking, the Nijmegen Zomerfeesten (Summer Festival) brings in entertainment, and the streets are lined with food and beer stalls. Restaurants extend out to the streets to entice the walkers and others to take a breather. Nijmegen greets 1 million visitors during the Vierdaagse. Its normal population is around 150,000. Heineken beer is quite popular, and there is a special brew - Blarenbier (blister beer) - said to help ease the pain of walking too far. The coffee is excellent. Travelers will discover that the Dutch are multi-lingual, most of them speak Dutch, English, French, and German. Simply pointing to yourself and saying, "English" usually results in the speaker switching instantly to fluent and well-pronounced English. For those afraid of foreign travel, a visit to the Netherlands can ease you into Europe painlessly. The program for the Vierdaagse, as well as the website, is multi-lingual with English translations as well as German and French.
Continue:
First Day - the Day of Elst
Second and Third Days
Final Day - the Via Gladiola
About the Vierdaagse
Net Links:
Gemeente Nijmegen: the City of Nijmegen site
Europe for Visitors at About.com
International Marching League Events
International Walking Event Net Links
Full Disclosure: Wendy Bumgardner attended the event as an IML delegate, with some expenses paid by the hosting organization.
