Ton van Zutphen and 'the 4daagse van Nijmegen' 2015 / the Walk of the World

Ton van Zutphen and the Walk of the World / 4 daagse door het Rijk van Nijmegen / a Fast Walk with Fun

prestatiemars / Edition 99  / July 21-24,  2015, Nijmegen, the Netherlands / www.4daagse.nl

 

A first comment written during 1^st week in July: always the 3^rd week in July takes place 'the 4daagse' and indeed some training needs to be done for the daily 40 kms. That is what I have been doing over the past 5 days in Masal Park in Gaziantep, a cute picnic park where the Turks linger, eat, sip tea, ponder and walk around.  It is now the Holy Month of Ramadan so all is very quiet at 5.15 in the morning when I mingle with the city workers that spray the park and paths with their water cannons. My small training started 29^th June and today 5^th July I walked 8610 steps….about 7kms. One step for me is between 0,80 and 0,90 cms. depending on how fast I walk, amongst others.

This coming week my work takes me to Mardin in Eastern Turkey and then into North Iraq…where training is difficult because of the heat and working hours.

Oeoehhhhh…on that Friday 18 July training around the village where my sister Ellie lives….and after too few stops and little drink…I waited for the ferry in Alem to cross the river Maas…and tried to stretch downward…lost my consciousness for a second or so and simply fell down…my blood must have been in my legs…..and my body could not cope….A signal?  Not really…during the 4days marches this happens to scores of people who walk too long….without stopping and then suddenly make unusual movements, like suddenly bending over.

Anyway, anyhow…all went well again.  The 4 Days Marches in Nijmegen 99th edition:

Day 1: started with rain between 5.30 and 6.30am…terrible…but the temp. was good with moving clouds and lots of people…> 42,000 people started at day 1.  My legs and feet kept going…did a good racewalk at times and it took me altogether 5 hours. So I came in at 10.15 hours

Racewalking is an Olympic sport since nearly 100 years...required is 1. always one leg completely straight and 2. always one foot/shoe on the ground while walking. So it is very different from powerwalking

Day 2: early start again…weather was better and actually I had no pit stop at all….legs and feet kept going and finished again in 5 hours

Day 3: wonderful weather…..enjoyed the hills between Breedeweg and Berg en Dal…another fast day

And with the old/forever young student colleagues from Brom Street 40…we had a few drinks at Café ‘De Kroon’ in the van ‘t Sandt Street, and hurled the walkers on to beat the finish time at 5 pm…every year as of 15 hours on the Thursday of the Nijmegen Walk of the World we meet here!

 

Left to right
Karin van Schipstal - Jan Konings, TvZ, Wilma Vollebergh, Antonet Adolfs-Boonman, Gerard Verstappen, Anne Ewals

 

Day 4: started at 6.15am…late start and walked on 6.30 hours….great atmosphere along the course! Never seen it so crowded….from Mook to the finish (about 8 kms.) people cheering on both sides of the road. The last 4 kms each of the remaining 40.000 walkers stepped onto the Via Gladiola and I was handed flowers left and right…NICE!.  This year was very crowded… the walk/race for me was ok…enjoyed the sights and small talks with Dutch walkers.  Get an idea of what’s cooking in the NL…not much I think.

At the finish shook hands with the mayor Cruls and mentioned to him I lived in the twin town of Nijmegen…which is Gaziantep. I did an interview with the regional press ‘The Gelderlander’ which was not printed …just mentioned my name with the number of steps I took…haha.

Here is a quote from the late Prince Claus von Amsberg, married to Queen Beatrix of the NL. Claus walked the 4daagse in, if I recall correctly 1975,…and later wrote ‘The medal I received from the 4daagse is the only one I believe I really earned’. 

Huge festivities with the cream of the Dutch artists/singers attract more than 1.5 million visitors during the week in a city of 170.000 inhabitants.

The organisation was handled well; I am always privileged because I can stay in an apartment with friend Antonet and her dog ‘Petit Ours/Beertje’ overlooking the town; just 10 minutes walk from the start.  

Stats and people I met:

The aim was to walk 250 kms. during the period 16-24 July with 'de facto' steps walked:

16 July                10.650                                                       17 July                48.200

18 July                 52.400                                                     19 July                25.200

20 July               23.800                                                       21 July: day1 = 40.0 kms = 44.400 steps

22 July: day2  = 39.7 kms = 42.400 steps                            23 July: day3 = 39.7 kms = 44.300 steps

24 July: day4  = 42.4 kms = 49.700 steps

All together 341.050, rounded off to 350.000 steps…..x 0.85cms for 1 step  =approx.. 297 kms. I am satisfied.

My body weight was 79.5 kgs before the training and dropped after day 2 of the Walk of the World to 76.5 kgs; after the festivities of Friday night it is back to 77.5 kgs.

Nijmeegse Vierdaagse / Walk of the World (4 days) / Netherlands / my participation

1972                                             50 kms  x 4 = 200 kms

1973                                             50 kms  x 4

2007                                             50 kms (walk cancelled after day 1 because of extreme heat;
                                                      walkers  hospitalised and one collapsed and died; I arrived early
                                                      at 13 hours)      

2009                                             40 kms x 4 = 160 kms

2012                                             40 kms x 4

2013                                             40 kms x 4

2014                                             40 kms x 4

2015                                            40 kms x 4  = 160 kms

 

I used (walked on)  2 pairs of BROOKS ST5 Racer running shoes / model 2010 which I can fully recommend. Bought myself finally a proper poncho (rain cape) and a pair of long overdue light shoe covers against the rain.

People I met: my sister Ellie in Lith, her friends Ida, Mieke and Ria; my nephew Henk van Zutphen and his better half Marijke, their grandchildren Anouk, Ruben and Koen, Mrs. Vollebergh-v.Leent, her son Jos. Jr., the Brom street students Jan, Wilma, Anne, Gerard. Had a great ‘walkers’ meal at ‘Café de Toekomst’ in Hernen on 17 July / brown bread with warm ‘kroketten=croquettes’ and mustard; a 1950’s fast food Dutch recipe! And not to forget Ms. De Bruyn (the burocalist)  who helped me big time after I misplaced my registration card/race nr.....lucky boy I am! And Jos Schenearts with whom I arrange the daily starting times and of course Antonet Adolfs who always hosts me during all these years.  

And cruised across the ‘Land of Maas and Waal’ the famous land between the wide Dutch rivers where many a battle was fought to conquer the Princes and Kings of the House Orange (the notorious Duke of Alva from Spain, and emperor Napoleon all gave up eventually…). Prayed and lighted candles at the Saint Victor’s church in Batenburg, a neo gothic pearl dating back to the mid-18th century and the St. Antonius church in Overasselt.           

And traversed the villages of Lith, Oijen, Megen, Appeltern, Batenburg, Hernen, Bergharen, Alphen, Wamel, Dreumel, Herewaarden, Rossum, Alem, Maren-Kessel, Oss, Malden, Lent, Bemmel, Elst, Oosterhout, Wychen, Beuningen, Weurt, Mook, Plasmolen, Molenhoek, Milsbeek, Breedeweg, Groesbeek, Berg en Dal, Overasselt, Linden, Beers, Cuyck, on the road to Nijmegen. 

In the  richer looking villages you get candy from the kids……the ‘don’t look so well-off villages’ hand out fruit and vegetables …my favourites are:  the cocktail tomatoes, cucumbers, wurst, and apples.

Al in all, another landmark and experience. Hope to be there again in 2016            

Ton van Zutphen on Syria and Greece: Stray Cats and Fat Cats

Ton van Zutphen about a non-sense comparison between SYRIA and GREECE…both countries going down the drain……STRAY CATS and FAT CATS

Here is some information…not all of it accurate in numbers but close and at least plausible. Followed by a few provocative and certainly debatable statements and conclusions. Get the picture? Is my note out of whack? Crazy stuff…..?  Please no hate-mail to me!

 What about Stray Cat  - SYRIA….

·       5 years of continuous war / over 275.000 Syrians killed

·       Everybody fighting the Assad regime and many armed opposition groups fight each other; most large cities turning into rubble; unique historical monuments destroyed

·       21 million people affected…the WHOLE country; everybody in it

·       5 million people chose to become a refugee and left the country

·       Implosion on all fronts: infrastructure, socio economic situation, productivity and services

·       Education of >80% of children and students has come to a standstill

·       Life expectation of the average Syrian has dropped by 20 years over the past 5 years

·       NO peace initiative whatsoever going on or being prepared

·       For 2015 the UN requests 4.5 billion USD in aid ….only 40% may materialise  by December

·       AND I could go on and on……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What about Fat Cat  - Greece….

·       Since it joined the EU in 1981 Greece built up a  track record of non-transparency on subsidies, and finance assistance

·       A regime of non-compliance on fiscal revenues and informal market economy; most farmers never paid any income tax

·       Generous pensioning off  employees at 60 years young

·       VAT levels have remained low and are non-existent on the tourist islands

·       Rumour says that the largest internal tax revenue for the government comes from the betting industry  

·       11 million people in Greece…and it contributes to perhaps 2% of the total gross productivity in the EU…it really is a micky mouse economy: small and irrelevant in the EU

·       For >5 years on a support infuse by the EU patrons in Brussels/Strasbourg

·       The man in the street lost track of how many hundreds of billion euros went to Greece

·       Debts are mostly rescheduled and in part ‘forgiven’; outstanding reimbursements are likely not to be paid back; Greece asks today for a new subsidy of over 70 billion euros

·       AND I could go on and on…

 

 

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Readers…..what does this tell us…first of all that I am biased because I am head over heels involved professionally in the Syria Crisis.

But when we all take a step back, think, even reflect deeply…. some of us are possibly realising that something is going astray here!

In terms of severity, size, numbers of people affected, future potential, violence, governance…etc…there is no comparison between the countries….but where is the priority for the world to turn to?

Is the Cause of Greece still correct after so many years of reduced subsidies coupled with continuing loans…that fair enough, caused moderate hardship for approx. 25%, perhaps now 35% of the population? Whatsoever this is nothing to compare with what the Syrians are going through!

Does apply what Abraham Lincoln rightly said ‘To Support a Cause that is Morally Wrong can Never be Politically Correct’?

Now do get me right…Greece needs some support; has in fact already and ALWAYS received it…but this dilly-dallying with the EU/IMF/ECB has to stop. Very few EU taxpayers and the average citizen without a face, nor voice, can agree with yet another injection of possible 70 billion euros….whereas in 2015 only a few billion euros will find their way to the needed inside Syria and the countries like Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq (these host over 4.5 million Syrian refugees).

Grosso modo, two systems are failing…the UN with the world’s aid machinery and the EU with other financial institutions that keep propping up countries for partly political and institutional reasons.

Gaziantep, Anatolia, Turkey with kind regards from Ton / 11^th July 2015