The Castlebar International Four Days' Walks are held every year on the first weekend of July. They are one of two locations (the other is Nijmegen Netherlands) where there are four day walks which are part of the International Marching League (IML). Since my husband Jack, and I got our first IML stamp at the now-defunct Winston-Salem walks, this was our opportunity to add a second country to our IML passport. Now we hope to use Victoria BC as our third country to earn our first IML medal.

We arrived at the Welcome Inn on Wednesday evening, 1 July, to participate in the opening ceremonies and the parade. We met old friends such as Dr. Ebashi, the President of the Japan Walking Assn., some Dutch walkers who had been to Winston-Salem, and two British acquaintances. This is the best part of IML, seeing those people who walked with you in other times and places - and renewing the friendships.

Thursday morning found us choosing to do the 20km walks every day in order to get IML credit. Those who wanted the Castlebar medal and were under 60 had to do the 30km ramble; we weren't up to long distance bog jumping for four days so just went for IML.

One important thing to note about these walks. The 10, 20 and 40km trails were road walks and were subject to the limitations of the number of intersections and road crossings around Castlebar. This meant distances were not accurate. For example, the 20km trails were 17, 24, 21, and 20km for the four days. You only received the sanctioned distance (20km per day) recorded in your IVV book.

About 20 of us on our tour opted to go 20km each day. I believe 15 of us accomplished that goal.

My husband and one other tour member were our only adventurous hikers who tried the 30km ramble. Carol did it twice and Jack once. The ramble is guided and includes about 5-6 miles of road walking to get to the bogs and the mountain of the day, which you will climb. The mountain and bog trails could be anywhere from 4-6 miles. When you reach the top of the mountain, you stop for lunch. You also stop once an hour for a short rest period. After coming down your mountain by hopping from tuft to tuft (and hoping not to slip off into the mud), you will have 4-7 miles of road walking back to town. And, according to my husband and Carol, these walks were not 30km long (they were a few kilometers shorter), but you get 30km credit. And there's about 5 hours of hiking with about a total of one hour additional in breaks. They left Castlebar as a group at 9AM and returned between 2:30 and 3:30PM.

My experience with the 20km trails was mostly positive. First and foremost, you cannot get lost as arrows are painted on the road for you to follow. When the 20km and 40km trails split, the numbers are also painted below the arrows. You followed the arrows in the "color of the day" which was posted at the start point.

Thursday we headed north along a lightly traveled road. With at least 600 walkers doing the 20/40km walks, it was tough to find room at the beginning but we soon spread out. We branched left and the 40k'ers headed away from us at a card punch site in the fork in the road. We continued to an area about halfway where water, orange drink and porta-johns awaited us. This was our only water stop the first day as they were late in getting stop 2 set up and we were past it before it was even there. Later walkers told us about it. This day was the exception to great support - the other three days had many more water stops and real bathrooms at schools or churches. This was also the day of the 17km trail, so we were finished in no time (3 hours and 40 minutes for me). Most of this trail was asphalt or gravel; it had relatively few steep hills and the countryside was pretty but not spectacular. The weather was overcast but it never rained on us.

Friday's trail went west of town. Again we started with the 20/40 people together and for the 20km walkers, we had about 5km which was an out and back walk (10km total); the other 14km - this was the 24km day - was a large loop through roads bordering bogs and evergreen forests with lots of farms around us. Many times we walked on small lanes where a few cars passed. Again, most of this trail was paved, but a lot of it was gravel or rocky lanes. The local children were out to greet us at many farms. A few enterprising types were selling drinks. This was the hardest walk for me as I was doing it without a break and that extra four kilometers (that I didn't know about until after I finished) almost did me in. There were a lot of small steep hills and at the last water stop, someone asked the volunteer how far to the finish. She nonchalantly answered "About 25 minutes" and after one hour of non-stop walking before reaching the outskirts of town, we all agreed she must have been talking about how long it takes for her to drive it in her car. We were easily 6-7km from the finish when we had left her. This day had most of us suffering from sore feet from the long distances on roads. I don't know how the 40km walkers do it.

Saturday was my favorite day -- great views and a spectacular trail. What was interesting here is the three times the 20/40km trails split and met again. This was the only day we finished the same way. It's also our 21km day and their trail was only 32km instead of 40km (they made up for it on Sunday). So, as I was blithely traipsing 2-3km from the finish coming down the hill into town, I was passed by at least 6 40km walkers (real hard to take as we all started together and these people had done 11km more than me). They were finishing their walk in less than five hours, which was my 21km time. Think about it; they did 20 miles in under 5 hours.

This was also the day with sections in mud and tall grass. We saw the best peat bogs on Saturday and I met a few momma cows and two calves up close and personal as they wandered down our lane alongside a hilltop farm. A walker had to herd them up and send them out of the way. It was also sunny this Saturday and I ended up (in IRELAND!!) with a slight sunburn from the unexpected bright weather.

Most of the other days were overcast, cool and breezy with a tiny bit of soft rain (or mist). So I was unprepared with no sunscreen to keep my nose from getting burned. I walked mostly alone on Saturday, taking pictures and meeting those who passed me - some of whom I knew from Winston-Salem. Jack was out bog hopping and came into the finish at 2:45PM just in time for us to join hundreds of people (many Dutch soldiers) to watch Holland beat Argentina in the World Cup game televised on a big screen TV at the Welcome Inn, our start point. Altogether a great day, lots of celebrating - World Cup fever is catching.

Sunday --- our last IML walk. Just 19.6km to go to get my second country in my passport. This walk went south and we saw a different area in the surrounding countryside of Castlebar. We stayed with the 40km walkers for quite a bit before they headed off to complete their LONG trail. The area south wasn't as hilly, and not as spectacular with views. I just enjoyed the people and looked at the houses which are fascinating for an American as different construction and landscaping techniques are practiced than what we are accustomed to seeing. We walked again with a new friend from Holland, who had lived years in New Zealand so he had an interesting combination accent. He suggested we come try Rotorua in New Zealand some day. Another IML country. I need to retire and win a lottery to do this though.

We finished --- got our stamp and our certificate of fitness and sat down for our last lunch in the Welcome Inn with the hundreds of walkers. We were all celebrating. Many of our tour group bought IML passports and got their first country. They are ready to tackle the back-to-back walks at Victoria and Vancouver to earn their first medal with three countries.

I'll be in Victoria in two years, I hope. And I want to do the Wellingborough walk in England one year. It may take a while but the thrill of doing a different type of walk event, one that really tests your fitness, and challenges you to try something hard to achieve, will keep me coming back to the IML.

More:

Castlebar Four Days Walk

International Marching League Events

Walking Trip Reports