“You must experience the four-day walk once,” a Dutchman told me. “It also helps your health. I had some free time in July 2019 to do something for my health. That’s why I decided to participate in the four-day walk in 2019.”
I went on Monday, July 15 to Nijmegen to my host family. My roommates were a Dutch couple from the Achterhoek and their friend, a German policeman and his son.
On the first day (Tuesday), I woke up at 2:30 in the morning to start my first day of the four-day walk at 4:00. The day went quickly. I was very quickly in Elst (the village for which the day is named). There were a lot of comments about my shoes. I did not experience those comments as positive. I met Yannick, a boy from the area around Nijmegen and his mother. Unfortunately, he dropped out on the third day due to blisters. He had bought new shoes three weeks ago. These turned out not to be the right size. His mother apparently finished the walk.
Day two was the most difficult day. I was very stiff from walking yesterday. I couldn’t easily move in the morning. Because of this, the pace was very low, about 3-4 km per hour. Around 12:00, the checking person told me that I wouldn’t make it because I was too slow. Then I started to increase my pace. I switched to thin-sole Vibram toe shoes. They offered the freedom to move easily. But because of this, I felt an incredible pain in my heels. The last two or three kilometers I ran hard. There were a thousand people standing along the line. Students with a beer in their hands, handsome guys, beautiful ladies. Apparently everyone was screaming at me! The last 500m I ran like a spear and paid attention to nobody. I was two minutes before five inside for the finish. Pfff!! After the finish, I had to walk another two kilometers to my house. It was one of the most pitiful events of my journey. I was alone, no one looked at me and I walked like an old man of eighty. Once home, I doubted whether I could move tomorrow. One of my housemates, Henny, had blisters and had therefore fallen out. He operated on my blisters. A very kind man. He gave me the important advice to start quickly.
On the third day, I decided to run the first kilometers very quickly before the sun came up. That went well. Despite having a blister between my right toe and the next toe, I was able to maintain a 5km/hour pace. I walked the first 15 km with a 18-year-old girl. She had walked with her boyfriend the first two days. Unfortunately, he dropped out on the second day, so she was walking alone. After 15 km, I left her behind due to my faster pace. I decided not to stop until 25 km. I wanted to take advantage of the morning, the cool temperature. After 25 km, I took a 10-minute coffee break with an old military man. After 35 km, there was another break to clean the feet. Afterwards, I walked the next 5-6 km with an Indian man. He had a very good pace. He had left three of his friends behind. It was very fun to talk in Hindi. In the last 15 km, he left me behind. The last fifteen kilometers were also heavy because we had to climb and descend hills. Very strenuous on the feet! I therefore walked slowly. Seven f**king hills. Every time I thought I had the hills behind me, another new hill came up. I lost count, due to exhaustion. But eventually, I just crossed the finish line ten minutes before 5:00 PM. Afterwards, a slow walk to my host family. After 50 km of walking, that 2 km was really not possible anymore. At home with my host family, I cleaned my feet. There was still a blister next to yesterday’s blister! I ate something and went to bed early. Tomorrow is the last day! That’s it!
The last day started very nicely. I was slow, but at a decent pace. I walked 5 km with an experienced walker at a high pace. He was a very nice, civilized man from Arnhem, 52 years old. He gave some good advice. He told me he had more blisters than me. “There’s nothing we can do now except just keep walking.” At one point I let him go ahead of me. I couldn’t keep up with his high pace. I then decided not to take a break. I accepted coffee from people along the line, only stopped to pee, and only sat when I had to go to the bathroom. I was slow but steady. Then I went into my own zone. I didn’t talk to people. Each step hurt my heels and the blister between my toes on my right foot hurt a lot. But I kept walking. Occasionally, people asked me about my toe shoes. Sometimes I politely answered, sometimes I answered rudely. Some people were curious, but most of the people I met were very skeptical. They walked past me at a high pace and pointed at my shoes. Even worse were people along the line, “look at those weird shoes” “do those shoes work well?” “You shouldn’t walk in those shoes, boy” and so on. In the end, I was fed up!!
The last 10 km was very painful. Definitely physically, but especially mentally. I was running at a pace of 2 km per hour. Along the line were thousands of people and everyone was cheering, laughing, and apparently having the “time of their lives”. I was afraid that I would start crying because of the pain and negative comments from people about my shoes. I feel very unhappy and couldn’t get that ABBA song out of my head “Facing twenty thousand of your friends, How can anyone be so lonely,”. All the bad experiences from the past went through my head. There were girls in the crowd who looked like the girls I used to be hopelessly in love with. The memories of the past came sharply to my mind and I lost myself in my thoughts. I was completely alone, with thousands of people walking next to me.
There were a few positive moments. There was an old man who politely asked me how I was doing and if I would like to walk a few hundred meters with his support. Out of vanity, I refused him, but I was very touched by his kindness. I held his hand a little longer. There were people who also knew how much pain I was in. They looked at me with a concerned look and had enough understanding not to interfere with me.
At the end, I registered at the desk at 5:35 pm, 25 minutes before the end time. The desk lady congratulated me and gave me a medal.
And then there were those last two kilometers back to the house of my host family. Those kilometers also seemed to go very slowly. My host mother called me and picked me up in her car when I was 50 meters from her house. Once home, I congratulated other people. My feet couldn’t do it anymore. I showered with difficulty and lay in my bed for a few hours. My host mother brought food to my bed. Finally, at 9 pm I got out of bed for a photo moment with my roommates. Everyone with a well-deserved cross!
On Saturday morning, I woke up early. Apparently, most of my body parts had recovered fairly well and I was able to stand upright. Only my right foot with a blister between the toes was not yet recovered. I made myself a cup of coffee, ate a croissant and watched Gelderland Radio on TV. After a few hours of catching up with my roommates, I packed my backpack again. My host was kind enough to wash my clothes. She took me to the station around 12:30. She asked me if I will come next year. I clearly told her ‘no’. She then responded, ‘yeah yeah, everyone says that. But well, see you next year, maybe’. On the train, I met girls who had walked 40 km. They were also exhausted. Our conclusion from the subsequent discussion was that it would have been easier if I had done this hike with a regular walking buddy.
At home in Delft, there was nobody except for me. I put my stuff away, ate something and lay on the couch. I called my parents about my experiences. I told them that it went well and that I’m recovering well.
I watched the trailer of a movie on youtube, I don’t know which one. And then I started crying.