In July 2013 a Group of Explorer Scouts took part in the International Four Day Marches at Nijmegen, Holland.This an annual event which started in the early 20th Century comprises four days of walking distances between 30 and 50 km a day draws so many participants (40,000 from 30 countries) that it has become the worlds largest walking event.
The Marches are gruelling and present a real challenge to the participants many of whom take part to raise funds for charity.
Here is the account of Zoe Clayton - Pegasus ESU.
It’s really hard to sum up Nijmegen because it is such a
surreal experience but it’s probably one of the best experiences I have ever
had and I recommend anyone who has a chance to do take part in the marches to
do so.
Although I was pulled out on the third day of the marches
due to knee problems, I don’t think I could ever say that the trip was
pointless because I didn’t complete it, I am generally just glad that I was a
part of it.
During
Nijmegen I met lots of wonderful people from all over the world and I think
that one of the main things about the Nijmegen marches which will stick with me
is how kind and friendly people were. Every morning the locals would be up at 5am just to cheer us on and every town we walked through people would be on the streets handing out food and offering encouragement.
On the second day we even made a friend while walking through a town, on local walked with our group for an hour just to chat before he turned back to walk back to his town. However I think I am most grateful for those people on the third day, who even though I was a complete stranger still offered chairs, support and encouragement to me when I was really struggling.
As well as doing the marches we also visited the war graves
at Groesbeek and were able to places flowers at some of the graves which were
quite emotional seeing the amount of graves with “unknown” written on them.
However I think this visit added on to the overall experience of Nijmegen.
Next
year I am hoping to go back to Nijmegen and become part of the Scouts medical
team because they helped me so much and I don’t think I could of got as far as
I did without their help and even though I would be in the marches I still want
to join in with the amazing atmosphere and be a part of the Nijmegen marches
again 
To read more about Nijmegan 2013 follow this link to the West Sussex Scout County Website - http://www.westsussexscouts.org.uk/media/11465/nijmegenexperience.pdf
