‘Flowers for the proud walker of the perhaps even prouder wife,’ he reflected.
Tomorrow is the day again: the annual Nijmegen Four Days Marches will start. This ultimate test of physical fitness, willpower and character can count on tens of thousands of enthusiastic participants every year. We look back on the year that the Via Gladiola had a very orange tint, when one royal participant crossed the finish line there.
Sporty royals
In addition to the Elfstedentocht, in which our King Willem-Alexander participated in 1986 under the now famous pseudonym WA van Buren, there is also another recurring sporting event in our small frog country where the most persevering can prove themselves. Every year in Nijmegen, the Four Days Marches take place – originally a military marching exercise, but nowadays a grand walking festival.
Royal presence
As far as we know, in all the years since the first edition in 1909, there has only been one Orange who put on his walking boots: none other than Prince Claus walked the fifty kilometre route with a group of comrades in 1967.
In 1991 he would look back on his experiences for the book De Wereld Wandelt. For example, on the website of the House of Nijmegen History you can read: “200 kilometers in four days. I had been warned. But that is precisely why I was well prepared. Fortunately, I did not suffer at all from a nagging awareness that I could not and should not give up during the long walk over four days.”
Furthermore, the prince vividly recalls some experiences in his writing. For example, he looks back on first aid posts with ‘plasters like roof tiles’, a certain ‘speed walker, who came by every four days, had a chat, and then continued on at a speed of more than 10 km/h’, and the grand reception at the finish line with ‘flowers for the proud walker from the perhaps even prouder wife’. Oh dear!
Really deserved
As husband of the then-crown princess of the Netherlands, Claus managed to obtain such a special Four Days March Cross with his sporting achievement. This was always very dear to the prince, and at his funeral the medal of honor was prominently present near his coffin.
About this piece of metal he writes himself: “One of my sons once remarked in a somewhat cheeky mood: ‘Dad, the only award you really deserve’.” Ha! You have to rely on your children… Now we just have to wait until we can spot the next royal on the Via Gladiola. Perhaps Claus-Casimir as an ode to his namesake? Who knows!
Source: House of Nijmegen History | Image: NL Beeld / National Archives
