Page 46 - The Gazette Autumn 2024

46 The Gazette QARANC Association
NIJMEGAN 2024
‘By day three
we ran out of
marching songs!’
Nijmegen marches date back over 120 years, since 1909. The objective is to build soldiers’ stamina and it has gone on to become the world’s largest annual walking event with 45,000 participants from over
70 nationalities. The team from Joint Hospital Group (South East) recently took up the challenge.
It was a very early and anxious start for the team of 12 setting off from Aldershot to Nijmegen in the Netherlands. After some napping on the buses and a successful first day of settling in, admin and relaxation, we prepared for the 0330 start and after a quick morning selfie; we stepped off at 4am in good spirits!
Day one was a 43km slog getting to know the general routine and our teams’ pace, then the sudden realisation of what a challenge this would be set in. With our feet pre-taped over the well- known hotspots, at the first rest stop 17km in, it was a short moment to reassess and retape. Each day we were herded into our squished rest pens and would soon become a more than welcome break to take our boots off and lay down with our feet in the air fighting a constant battle to ward away the throbbing from the days walking. And of course, the vital and essential moment to inhale snacks and premade jam sandwiches from breakfast to refuel!
Each small town we passed was a heavenly little boost, seeing the thousands of people in the streets encouraging us on with all kinds of music blasting from loudspeakers every 50 metres, it broke up big