American Reacts to 4Daagse walk of the world Nijmegen 

11:00 Charlie, it's actually Dutch without accent (ABN: Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands). Best spoken in Haarlem, LOL. 19:35 They party on Grolsch (country, not Belgium) ... 2 o'clock on the beer map behind you.

Red Cross is everywhere and even in the middle East there is a 'Red Half Moon' sister organisation.

It all started as a way for the military to increase stamina and agility in 1909. Several events where organized (think obstacle course etc), walking was one of those events. Because it was easy to organize, and cheap, all other activities slowly decreased, but the walking stayed. Its 4 days of fixed distance over a set out walking route, today its 30, 40 or 50 km (whatever you choose to follow and can handle) each day. So, its pretty harsh (120 to 200 km in total in 4 days). Originally it was for military, but from the start civilians who wanted to join could do so. Since 1928, it became international, when militaries from the UK joined the walk. Several cities where used as starting points in the beginning, but after a while Nijmegen became the fixed starting and ending. Other cities also organize vierdaagsen, but often have smaller distances (think 5, 10 and 15 km), and are more for civilians. Today, 47500 people are allowed to walk the Nijmeegse vierdaagse. Sometimes its hot, and people faint, or are exhausted, and often have blisters and such, so more people is not allowed by the organization. Its a real achievement to have walked the Nijmeegse vierdaagse (as its the longest), and you will have a medal to show for it if you finish all 4 days. If you finish several years, your medal will be updated. Some have finished it a dozen of times or more. Its a fun thing to do nowadays, healthy as well. Its part of our culture now. All big cities have some kind of vierdaagse.

There are so many (Dutch) traditions that in the end basically revolve about being social, and merry; food, drink, music / party. The rest is more or less the excuse for the latter; the party at the end, and the good times in between.

Red Cross was founded in Switzerland.... You dont learn much about foreign nations in the USA?

It's mainly a march for world wide peace. Military from all over the world and civilians all in perfect harmony. So now even German and Dutch soldiers build a bridge together. 80 years ago that was definitely not the case...

You asked: "why don't they just keep the tents all year around?" I would think that for the military constructing everything in limited time and taking it apart afterwards is an exercise in logistics.

The thing that they don't mention is that surrounding the vierdaagse, the city of Nijmegen also hosts De Zomerfeesten (summerfest). There are stages on all larger squares in the inner city and hundreds of artists perform throughout the entire week. These have included such famous artists as DJ Tiesto, Paul Elstak, Venga Boys, Miss Montreal, Raccoon, Anouk and ofcourse De Sjonnies. These performances are all free. You can just go there if you want. Which is completely awesome. However it has one downside. The population of the region, which is normally around 300.000 people, suddenly grows to over a million. Where normally, even on a busy shopping evening you're easily able to stroll around the inner city and get places, during summer fest you're gonna be shoulder to shoulder with thousands of people anywhere you go. I live for that stuff. Summerfest is the single best event of the year. There is just nothing like it.

Hi Charly, The man talking doesn’t have an accent, he speaks ABN ( algemeen beschaafd Nederlands) general civilized dutch😊

Almost all cities and towns in the Netherlands have their own 'Avondvierdaagse', mainly participated in by school-classes, boyscouts and other social groups. They walk four afternoons/evenings all around town. The big one in Nijmegen is the most famous. And it's just that: celebrate being part of something bigger than just yourself. Celebrate health, youth, culture... What's there not to love? Too bad I can't walk much anymore these days.

Iam looking forwards too the 4daagse. They will walk close to our house. But mostly of all we , my kids and me, can't Wait to have a party at the island.

Yeah finally ! - Biggest festival of the world (>40 festivals in one) with largest walking march of the world (>70 countries; so yes also Denmark, he was giving examples) and ca 30 militair nationalities in the oldest city from the Netherlands. NEIH MEEGUN. = how you pronounce Nijmegen. :) You have to do a video about the "nijmeegse vierdaagsefeesten". That's what the 4daagse really is: Walking and partying!

Why they build and break down the camp for the militaires is its located in a nature landscape and has to be clean. i build tents and events for a living and have been building at that location for years! my hometown is a small village next to nijmegen :)

This is a great event and the "zomerfeesten" (summer festival) takes place in town at the same time. A week long party visited by well over a million people from all over the world. You did however find the most boring official video on the internet.

18:58 I just wanted to point out that that old man there has walked this event 67 times. I think he added at least 2, perhaps 3 to that now. Wowwwwww! Respect!

In 2 weeks it will happen again. Last 2 years it was cancelled because covid so the participants are eager to get their next "4 days cross". That cross is an official recognised medal for military. My 2 daughters have trained hard for it and hope to get their 3th cross this year for the 4x50km. And they pass our house on the first day so we will cheer them on!

Proud Nijmegenaar here 💖💖💖

they walk the 31 miles daily for 4 days. So in total they walk 120 miles. and the red cross is an international organisation with an internationally recognised emblem (the red cross)

The "4 daagse" medal is the easiest royal Medal you can earn as a civilian. You just have to walk 200 kilometers on a predetermined route, with checkpoints so you can't cheat, in those specific 4 days. It used to be called the "koninklijke onderscheiding voor marsvaardigheid", the Royal medal for the ability to march. I personally don't know anybody who has that medal and didn't train a year round to finish. I tried is once about 15 years ago and I can tell you that it seems simple but it really isn't. I've got the medal from my grandpa but still going to try next year to get my own. Just started training again and have about one year to get it right. The march for this year starts in 2 weeks, 19th july

Ik woon in Nijmegen dit is de stad waar de vierdaagse zich afspeelt, mijn moeder inmiddels overleden vertelde dat vroeger er hoofdzakelijk veel militairen in mee liepen dit was zo na de oorlog. Zelf weet ik nog goed dar voor de eerste keer Russen mee liepen dit was toen echt wel een dingetje. Nu lopen er ook heel veel wandelverenigingen en burgers, en minder militairen en als die meelopen is het niet meer zo als als vroeger. Kortom veel lopen 4 dagen lang met afstanden van 50, 40 en 30 km en mooie zomerfeesten in de stad!

?????? This is not Belgium. It is Netherlands. More Dutch beer drunk than Belgian.

The Narrator's Dutch is just Pitch Perfect Standard DUTCH -- NO Accent -- NO Dialect -- A professional Narrator, Clearly Selected to Voice-Over for Dutch NATIONAL TV Commentaries and such !

American asks, _"But why? It's just walking with no specific purpose, right?"_

He does not speak any dialect, hij speaks "algemeen beschaaft Nederlands", which is kind of like "the Queens English" in Great Britain, without the "overdoing" though. Maybe just call it normal Dutch. Wonder where your interest in the Netherlands comes from? Just because of your ancestors?

The history of the German Red Cross is more than 150 years old. The first Red Cross Society in the world was founded in Baden-Württemberg in 1863. The idea of ​​helping people according to their need, without paying attention to skin color, religion or nationality, goes back to Heinrich Dunant.

Hi Charlie, Nice to see that you chose the four days walk of the world. It's not a competition, it's a performance run. Anyone who completes it is a winner. @06:18 Tough the Dutch are businessmen, this is not about money (not the American way😉). It is run by a foundation. Foundations are allowed to build a reserve, but are not allowed have profit. Another reason could be that the structures are lent by the Red Cross, the army, or even hired. @09:31 Well, that figures... Where did the vast majority of emigrants going to America and Canada came from? Right, here you are!😉 @12:18 The Red Cross is a world-wide organization and has many countries with their own Red Cross organization residing under them. @13:24 Right! But there is an additional reason. It is legally allowed to wear the award as a soldier (Along with the "elf-stedenkruisje", the ice-skating event). They have the Royal Approval.

Dutch Ancestry 👀 *opens Ancestry* Nope still no family 🤷🏽‍♂️. I would describe this event as a sport activity for real die hards. People practice for these far walks all year. Fun fact; when i was in elementary school, all schools had their own vierdaagse, i don't know if that was something common for the whole of The Netherlands. As a kid we could choose to do 5 km or 10 km a day. You get all kinds of snacks and drinks on the walk and also a medal. Good exercise for sure. I would like to see your ancestry vid! It can take a while to figure it all out, families were huge back in the days (mine had like 16 kids or something😂). I use Myheritage as well, i think it is more suitable for my (mostly) European DNA. Oh and we have very international streetnames, also from presidents of the USA or famous people from back in the days, you would be surprised (John F. Kennedy lane for example). So we also have streets that were named after a flower like Gladiola that's what they reffer to in the vid i guess 🙃

The Gladiolen ,gladiolus. Are a result on a wordplay. The roman legionairs had a saying, death or the gladius, their short sword. The dutch made it into "de dood of the Gladiolen". So that's why you see those flowers. The time of the year and commerce do play a role as well🤣

Red Cross. It isn't an American organisation. It founded in Switzerland, the Swiss flag is the negative of the red cross flag... red flag with a white cross. So, not American in its origin.

Plenty of Nijmegen folk leave the city during the season. Downtown area really gets overcrowded in those days. Hard to bear.

8:35 Being able to set up a bridge quickly is a very important skill for the military. The 4-daagse started out as a military drill so that the Dutch conscript army could march to any part of the Netherlands that needed defending.

Ok Charlie, does this mean you'll need to walk more in the Netherlands and participate in an event like this once y'all move there? 🤣 Ok, not everyone in that tent had "foot injuries". After a hard day of walking, I'm sure that you'd like someone to massage your feet too. I'm sure some are there for... back problems, leg cramps, heat exhaustion, etc. "The Red Cross is an international humanitarian network founded in 1863 in Switzerland, with chapters worldwide that provide assistance to victims of disasters, armed conflict and health crises." The American chapter began in 1881 when volunteer Clara Barton brought the Red Cross to the U.S.

Will be walking the 4x50km for the first time this Year.

Red cross organisations are found all over the world, except in muslim countries, there the have the red half moon. Same type of thing, different name.

The walking route came past my house at my old location and also my new location in Elst (a village between Arnhem and Nijmegen). My mom and some friends also participated every year, it’s a really big happening with lots of party’s in Nijmegen 😎😎😎

my home town, to bad this video doesn't really show what the 4daagse (and the 7 days summer party around the 4daagse) is

I took part in this amazing event three times. It's just an event to physically challenge yourself. Blisters are often a problem for many participants, but if you are well prepared that shuldn't stop you from taking part. The biggest risk for blisters is having shoes that don't fit properly, or wet feet due to rain, or sweat on a hot day. I always carry some needles with me to immediately puncture a blister as soon as it appears. The routes start and finish at the same location every day, so it's not like two days outward \and two days back. This means people don't need separate accommodation each day, but can stay in one place. And partying after walking 120 miles, some people do, but most just relax for a while and then start to make their way home to catch up on some well deserved rest.

Oh my my my! You have choosen a very boring;( Sorry for the makers of this video) but very informative🤪, video of the 4- day marches. I live in Nijmegen and have done this - once! Omg, it was goddamn hard. 4 days walking, 40- 50 km per day ain't ez.( kids may walk 30 km per day). It is such a happening though🤩 7 days of partying in the town like you've never seen before, we all party 24/7😁 So many people from all over the world come to march these 4 days and even more people come to party ❤🤍💙, everyone is cheering the ppl who are walking, it doesn't matter if you're young, old, poor or rich, just being together and hapiness everywhere - although blisters and muscle ache are common ofcourse😂 The medal you get is an official royal medal❤ many people volunteer and offer food and drinks to the people who walk. And yes, there are also many army's who walk. It is AMAZING😍

Original it was for military, but in time its for civilians . This is the BIG 4daagse here you walk 30,40 or 50km every day , almost every town in netherland has there own 4daagse at the own rown ones the people walk 5 or 10km every evening . Its a personal goal to make it tru these days/evenings and you get a medal for walking . Gladiolen are flowers they are a long stamp and lots of litle flowers from middle to top of the stamp

In other villages and cities there is a 4daagse too is mostly for the children at school but others can join the event too. These 4daagse is one week in the month June and they walk 3 km (for people in a wheelchair) 5 km or 10 km every evening for 4 days🙂

No other purpose than having participated.

Its just for fun don't do it its verry long walk.

Another fun walking event is the Kennedy Mars. It re-enacts the forced march of the soldiers under General Kennedy, liberating the Netherlands. It started somewhere in the sixties. Its 80 kilometer long, and you have to do it in one day: in 20 hours. About a dozen cities organize their own Kennedy Mars. Each city has about 5000 people walking, and about half never make it to the end, its that hard.

As we speak, the Nijmegen 4 day’s has officially started today, only this year 1 day shorter due to the heat yesterday) explanation of the 4 days walk: The Nijmegen Four Days Marches is the largest multi-day walking event in the world in which 42,000 walkers participate every year. They come from all over the world to Nijmegen to walk for four days in Nijmegen and the beautiful, wooded area. Participants cover distances of 30, 40 or 50 kilometers for four days in a row. Those who successfully complete the journey are rewarded with the coveted Four Days Marches Cross, an award recognized by the Dutch King.

I walked the ‘Nijmeegse’ once as a 15/16 year old.. Yes, I got a lot off blisters😩 but the people around offering food(cucumber, candy) and water, the music, the whole vibe kept me going.. Seeing that old lady walking in clogs, the Hari Krishna singing while walking, all the Military groups, all those different flags.. The last day is just one big walking party😁 In retrospect loved it.. The Via Gladiola loosely translated: The road of Gladiolen(those long red flowers), as in you get your flowers(respect and literal flowers).. Gladiolen are the Nijmeegse and the other way around.. Every year I see them in the AH and it reminds me off ‘my time’ walking..

Keep in mind, just after 10 generations you already have 1.024 ancestors and after 20 it becomes 1.048.576! 🤯😁✌🏼

Why Belgian beer, we have gratis beers in the Netherlands too! When you come to live here you have to walk this one time, you can chose 30, 40 or 50 km, so your young enough to do it!

I live in Nijmegen, and the 4-Daagse nowadays is all just for fun. To push your own bounderies of what you're capable of. Unfortunately for me to many people want to join so they draw lots and my boyfriend en friend were in and I was out. Only my friend joined, first she walked 40k, the year after she was in directly because she finished her first year. And then she tried 50k and succeeded. For me, the rest of my friends and most residents of Nijmegen, the 4-Daagse is all about the festivities around town. The 4 marching days are from Monday until Friday, but the festivities start 2 days earlier 🥳. Maybe you can look on RU-vid for "Vierdaagse feesten Nijmegen "

I don’t walk it but I do party 5 days haha the city centrum is full with music stages every genre just amazing

Good Dutch beer: Grolsch

They don't even talk about the best thing. The summer festival. While the walkers march, other people can party every day in the city centre. Whole city centre is transformed to a festival with lots of podiums. 7 days straight. This video doesn't really capture the vibe if you ask me. It just talks about the organisation. Maybe check a video (if there is one) on the "zomerfeesten" (summerfest). Millions visit the festival every year (record is around 1.6 million visitors in a week), it is really fun with fireworks and all. And the best part is, its for free. You only pay for beer. You can walk from stage to stage tracking the artists you like to see the most.

Its walking four days with distances of 30KM,40KM and 50KM and the whole thing is to walk the four days. And its people from all over the world and military from all over the world. And the medal is so important military can wear it on there official costume. And the camp is build every year and its logistic and build are to train and the terrain where its on is military terrain so other times is used as military terrain. And everyone are in hotels and holiday parks around nijmegen. And alot of celebrating people are comping in on trains.

About the partying, the whole city of nijmegen is one big festival for all the guests. There are like 20 different stages scattered across the city. Not only the for the four days of walking but the whole week after that as well. A lot of people do not really come to support the walkers, they only come to party

The event only had 3 days of walking time this year due to a massive heatwave. People were quite upset about missing out on the fourth day (well, technically the first day got cancelled), and they felt like they didn't deserve their medal this year. I've never participated, I don't want to participate, my daily exercise begins and ends with a trip to the supermarket, walking my dog 3 times a day, and climbing the stairs to my duplex home. I aint got the energy to walk any of those distances, I'd break before I reach the quarter point. Mad respect for everyone who does it.

The name for the finish road is a temporary one; the road is renamed every year for this event. Via is Latin and means road. The Romans always had a celebration with flowers and even arches along the road thw army would reenter the (main) city by upon returning from the battle field. Gladius is roman for sword. The flowers, gladiolen, look like swords of flowers. I do not know if the flowers ARE roman, but this is way the road is called "via gladiola" ; they want the walkers to feel like Roman warriors 🤭

Just realised based on your reaction. That indeed WHAT is de 4Daagse about, walking 50 km or 40 km for 4 days at a row, is only explained layer in the video. As Dutch we now this ofcours, but forgtbose who dont what is the event is about is a mystery for long time....

When I was in the Dutch Army (1968) stationed in Germany for the NATO defense of Hamburg and Bremen, I participated in many sporting events in the Netherlands from cross country running to the 4-days marches in Nijmegen. I missed the ice-skating, because I was sick. I had very good motivation, having a girlfriend in the Netherlands. The return from the Netherlands to Germany was limited to Tuesdays! So on Friday we moved to the Netherlands and on Mondays I reported in Nijmegen for the 4-days Marches. We walked 4x 40KM with weapon (UZI) and 10 kg in the backpack. Friday evening I returned with my girlfriend, who came to see me finish, to our home-town and the following Tuesday I had to return to the barracks in Germany :( In this way I had 2 additional weekends with my girlfriend. Normally we had 6 days during ~5 weeks. Being motivated by our professional sergeants, I had the impression, that sporting was essentials for a soldier, since you needed the stamina to outrun the Russians :)

Mostly blisters, not every walker is as prepared or hardened. Now that the climate is getting hotter, heat strokes also become more routine.

Gladiolen - Dutch and Flowers - from Latin Gladius meaning sword, linking it back to the military.... thank you for letting me view this video - I would have never watched it on my own.

you march the 31 miles each day, so when you coss the finishline you marched over 120 miles in 4 days.

5 times finisher here

I started in 2012 making videos of these 4Days marches with all the 6.000 military troops. There are also many US troops in my videos. This year on july 20 I hope to film this event for the 9th time. You can see on my RU-vid channel how it looks. The last marches took place in 2019, the next 2 years it was cancelled because of Corona. This year is the 104 th. time.

The Four Days Marches is really Nijmegen and it is run from Nijmegen through neighboring places, I am a real Nijmegen and know the routes by heart and within the routes are the same every year, only this year the day of Wijchen has changed slightly and it will now continue Weurd a place near Beuningen. The military tents are torn down after the four days because there are military exercises there all year round so they need the space. This year the four-day parties start on July 16, then you have a party for 6 days everywhere in Nijmegen with lots of music on stages, and the walking starts on July 19 and ends on July 22, so a very busy week for Nijmegen but fun.

Dame Edna Everage was very fond of them.

If I had to guess your nationality without knowing you were American,first guess dutch,second British.I hope your dream becomes a reality one day and you find yourself living in Holland. Vrede en geluk🕊

Autoinflected suffering knowing that it will be a bonding experience and at the end you'll be hailed as a hero. it's the Dutch way.

About the Red Cross organization; the Red Cros is an initiative of Henri Dunant a Swiss banker in 1863; our part of the red cross (or Het Rode Kruis), was astablished by King William the 3rd in 1867, so it is the other way around you have your Red Cross in following the European Red Cross! The American Red Cross was founded in 1910.

The Red Cross was established in 1864 during the first Geneva Convention. The founder of the Red Cross, the Swiss banker Henri Dunant, derived the symbol from the flag of Switzerland, which has a white cross on a red background, but whose colors he switched. Sorry to say but it was really another American comment Gosh didn't know the red cross existed in Europe too, thought it was American😏🙄

Sorry Charley, celebrating in the Netherlands with a good Belgian Beer? Why? Ever tasted a good Grolsch pilsner or -Bockbeer, or even better a Hertog Jan Double or -Tripple? They are real Dutch beers and in my opinion the best. After the 3 times drinking aTripple I remember to have a problem with walking in a normal way.

Hey Charlie Haha dust dis event is coming up every jeers all about the drinking and feasting 🍺🍸🥃🍷all kind of people who are serious in walking people death are seriously good at being only drunk 4for days long . Funny to see how you interest your way into de Nederland's👌👍 Dutch blood is everywhere , I can say 4 sure but you’re having some dutch blood 2 your almost like a magnet 🧲 brother 😆 come dis way let me know when you’re ready I will show you around . Keep up your thinks good lack Bruh🤙

The guy's dialect is from the television studios. He speak pretty much ABN (Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands = the news reader's Dutch. Which is close to the "Haarlem" dialect). So difficult to tell which area/city he is from. Don't think he speaks his original mother's dialect.

There is a good and comprehensive explanation of this event on the English wikipedia site (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Four_Days_Marches_Nijmegen)

You asked where the narrator comes from, what dialect he's speaking. In my opinion he's speaking without a dialect, what's called ABN: Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands (loose translated in "proper Dutch") The Via Gladiola isn't really the name of that street, but it's a nickname, because there every walker has been given some gladiola flowers as an extra price for completing the 4 days walk.

8:50 'Vest' sounds dutch. 11:40 They do not ALL get (foot-)injuries, but some do. Then it's good there's professional help available. And then those walkers can, mostly, continue the walk from A to A.

A vital word in the video was mistranslated in the English subtitles used. Early in the video listen for the word "wandelen", translated to marching. Wandelen properly translated means to stroll, walk... You have a very keen mind Charlie, which is, above all fabulously inquisitive. I too have this passion for all things Dutch, Netherlandish... Their fascinating history and culture, and their freedom and tolerance of others. And all these happy people live on self-crafted little piece of earth in the northwest delta of the European continent. Remarkable nation, remarkable people. proud to have them in my ancestry too. You guys are producing fascinating stuff!

LOL not good at the guess his dialect, so it sounds softer then harsh Hollands. He doesn't sound like he is for the Randstad. It is ABN common civil Dutch that he speaks more or less to my ears. He doesn't sound very Limburgs to me, maybe more northern Limburg could be or Brabant but he doesn't sound stereotypical Brabant's to me. He also doesn't sound like he is from Twente or again he left his accents at home since he speaks ABN {Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands] Frisian I would also rule out, Groningen I would rule out, but that is all based on the stereotypical sounds of these provinces. Looking on the map where Nijmegen is - it might just be the ABN with a little local dialectic twist in it. See I'm not good at that game - only guesses what would not be the Dutch accent used/spoken by the narrator.

The commentator is talking "ABN" which stands for "Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands", or in in English "General Civilized Dutch" which is more or less the "standard Dutch" that people use when the have official business, and which equates the most with the accent of the urban centre of the country, when spoken by highly educated people. It is not really an accent or dialect. There is also a shimmer of an accent in there, but I can not recognize that.

The commentator is speaking ABN, which means Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands (translates to something like common proper Dutch).

We say Maas - like Maastricht. But how to explain phonetically - its a double sound of the singe a - but in Dutch phonetics the English a sounds more like the Dutch e, or ee. It is like the sound of Master like master mind. Maas cut of the ter. Come to think of it it might depend on your accents if this would work. What English word has the aa sound??? Magician maybe the first ma part. Ma and add S. Maas. It think this should work with American English.

It is a sports event for amateurs, walk the distance, get the medal...and go to the party afterwards. And a training in logistics etc.. Why??? Why sports... ?

Haha sometimes you can still see the american mentality in your comments, "why don't you keep it up the year around and rent it out" the barracks are build on local parks, sporting fields, and farmland. after the 4 daagse they are returned to their original function. Every space in the netherlands is precious, we don't keep empty barracks for over 6000 people if we can utilize the ground for other purposes

That was fast and smart with the 7 continents - It would have slipped me by. See how they embellish a little bit here and there, PR and marketing is what this video is also geared to.

I'm not 100 percent sure, but the red cross was founded in Switzerland or Sweden. Belgian beer is good, but it gives me a headache, so we stick to Heineken, Amstel, and Hertog Jan!

It’s organized by a Physical Excercise Organisation

Im Dutch .. and I been grow up , with this event . It’s not only the walk . But the feeling to walk with Al .. you going to have a vibe , you can’t explain if you don’t walk this .. in historie it was a militaire event . But now , for Al people . And a lot of diversity.. over the hole world .. it’s addicted and you meet people all over the world ..

The narrator doesnt really have an accent. He speaks what we call General Civilized Dutch (Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands in Dutch)

Dindt expect to see anything about this from this angle , have been setting up 500 field beds, in preparation for this two months ago. Like for the "preliminaries" for who actually could do the distance within the four days.

It was just announced today that this year's event will only be three days because of the predicted soaring heat on Tuesday. Participants will start on Wednesday but still will get their 4 daagse medal upon completion on Friday .

It’s walking the equivalent of 125 miles over 4 days, to promote moving your body

"Also found out I have a lot of ancestors in Germany ..." (noticed a bit worried look and the voice going down half an octave. Understandable)

It is actually shortened to three days now. They were supposed to start tomorrow, Tuesday the 19th. But because tomorrow will be tropically hot and is not safe for the people it will be three days now starting Wednesday.

4 days of walking, they also have swim 4 days, where you swim a certain amount 4 consecutive days

The piont is proeving jou can stil doe it. The gladiool (flouwer) is a symbel of perseverance

1908 National health organization and physical fitness of the people are linked into this military origins of walking.

The commentator speaks ABN which is official dutch

You dont party after four days walking. You are knackered and all you want is your bed. I did not like it the last time I walked it. It is too big and far too loud. I walked in the 80's the first time much better.

the man is talking a very clean sort of dutch we call A.B.N ( common decent dutch ) so there is no accent at all. And Why ?? ... just for fun. A nice event .

Gladiool named afterr the short roman sword the gladius, the leaves have that shape... and gladiols are the flowers put on graves...after 4 days you almost dead, so they give you a bunch of these when you make it to the last mile :)

@Charlie Vest!,the Dutch Moderator you here,is an Dutch tv Host & he‘s from the West Part of our Country!

When I was in the Royal Dutch Navy…a long,long time ago.I walked de Vierdaagse 3 times.Lot of beer and lot of fun.