It was a 3.30am start … having only got to bed at 12.30am it was a very short night; on the plus our journey went like clock work, and we are now now nicely settled in the centre of Nijmegen. We are staying with Vanessa,  in her lovely flat right in the city centre (the accommodation was booked through the event organisers). The flat is particularly handy as it is only 5 minutes walk from the start. This took on an even greater significance when we discovered that the rumours we had heard about early starts are true. John and I are walking 50km/day, (I know we should have selected a more achievable target of 30km or 40km). The 50km walk starts at 3.00am each day… by the end of the week we won’t know if we should be walking or sleeping!

Flower Stall

The atmosphere in Nijmegen was absolutely buzzing today. Over 40,000 people are taking part in this event. It is the largest organised walking event in the world. This is the 94th International Fours Days Marching and the organisers are pretty slick at it now! Today was admin day, and so far so good.

I’ve had a play with my newly acquired flip camera (more about that on another blog!), to try and record some of the atmosphere! I hope you can access it.   Arctic-Mummy in Nijmegen – Day 1

It’s 9.00pm here. I am up in 5.30 hours. Hope to update you tomorrow. Night x

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