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Volume 54 Number 15
www.couriernews.ca
April 13, 2021
Nijmegen: Worlds apart walking together JOY SMITH Nijmegen is the oldest city in the Netherlands; Nijmegen was also the encampment site of the 1st Canadian Army during the winter of 1944. Over five weeks in the spring of 1945 nearly eight thousand Canadian Troops gave their lives fighting in the area around Nijmegen to bravely liberate the Dutch people from the oppression of Nazi occupation. Since 1952 - Canada has been sending troops to Nijmegen to participate in the Vierdaagse and pay tribute to that sacrifice. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic marked the first time that Canada was unable to participate as a nation since first attending. The Vierdaagse or “Four Days Marches”, is the largest international walking event in the world. Each year upwards of fifty thousand participants, both civilian and military, from nearly 80 different countries descend on the city of Nijmegen in the Netherlands to take part in this grueling event. Marchers walk varied routes throughout the countryside with military participants needing to complete four consecutive days of 40km loaded marches in order to finish. First started in 1909 as a means to strengthen the Dutch Military, the “Vierdaagse” has grown year after year with 2020 to have been the 104th running of the event. In their history the marches have been cancelled only a handful of times, namely during the World Wars, as well as 2020 for COVID-19. Again this year, Nijmegen will be a virtual event. This event is open to everyone, military, Defence team employees, family members and civilians. Anyone interested in participating can march any two days between May 1-9. You can
choose your marching distance, between 2 km-20 km with or without a weighted ruck sack. The entrance fee is $20, which will be donated to the Boomer’s Legacy, which is an organization that strives to empower all deployed Canadian Armed Forces soldiers, sailors, aviators and airwomen by raising and providing charitable funds, thus helping them to help others. You can sign up for the march by searching for an event “victory march” or by clicking and/or copy & paste this link into your browsers https://raceroster.com/ events/2021/38945/victory-marchla-marche-de-la-victoire. While the Nijmegen Victory March is a “walking” event, Tovah Fenske, 4 Wing’s PSP Fitness Coordinator has a few words of advice for anyone wanting to take part. “The ‘full distance’ of 20 km times two days is like doing two half marathons,” commented Fenske. “It does not matter if you are walking or running, your body needs to train for this. There are various distances for this reason, choose a distance that is suitable based on your current fitness level and training distance (consider the distance that you are currently doing on a regular basis and aim for something a little longer). You have a little less than a month before the event date and should start training now.” Fenske was the pre-march trainer for the 4 Wing team participating in the 2018 Nijmegen Victory March. While training for the event, the team, including Fenske, walked approximately 900 kilometres carrying ruck sacks weighing between 22 to 30 pounds. If you have any questions about the virtual march or require Jeff Gaye assistance, please contact the 4 4 Wing’s PSP Fitness Coordinator, Tovah Fenske (on the left), helped train Wing Fitness Coordinator Tovah members of 4 Wing prepare for the Nijmegen Victory March back in 2018. Fenske at fenske.tovah@cfmws.com.
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