On Friday, Aug. 8, my husband and I participated in an event known by the rather gruesome name of Dodentocht, or Death March, hosted for the 39th time by the good people of Bornem, Belgium, a town of some 20,000 just to the southwest of Antwerp. We weren’t the only ones there with ties to the U.S. military community. For brief stretches of the walk, we enjoyed the company of fellow Americans based in Schinnen, Netherlands, and I did see at least one U.S. soldier in uniform.
The challenge of the Dodentocht is to walk a total distance of 100 kilometers within a 24-hour period, beginning at 9 p.m. on a Friday evening. It is at once easier and harder than you might think. Spry grandmotherly types leave you in the dust, while young healthy Bundeswehr soldiers wince in pain with every limping step.
Although nearly 10,000 participants set off from the start line, it’s an intensely personal experience. If something’s been weighing heavily on your mind, it’s a great chance to really ponder the issue from all sides. If you’re feeling chatty, it’s an easy thing to strike up a conversation with a fellow walker. We met kitchen fitters and policemen from Denmark, servicemembers from Germany and England, and Belgian IT workers. At a bar by the finish line, locals from the town bought us round after round of cool delicious Hoegaardens and other local beers and a woman who worked in the bakery gave us pastries.
If this sounds vaguely fun to you, but you fear you’re not up to it, don’t dismiss the idea out of hand. I bike to work every day, and I built up to it by taking long walks, but never trod over 20 kilometers at a time beforehand. My feet ached during the march, but never so badly I contemplated giving up. Tiredness plagued me only in the earliest morning hours, and I wished I had livelier music loaded on my MP3 player. If you do have to give up, you’re not an exception. This year, roughly forty percent of those who started were forced to give up at some point along the route.
Camping is available near the start point for less than 20 euros and run by the local scouting organization. One of our fellow campers noted, “I drove 800 kilometers to walk 100 kilometers to get a pineapple. My friends think I’m crazy.” If he’s crazy, he’s in good company. Talk to any of your fellow walkers, and they’ll proudly tell you how many walks they’ve completed previously, and the numbers quoted may run into the teens or higher. Long distance walking seems to get in the blood.
To learn more about the march, visit the Dodentocht Web site. To read another take on long distance marching, see the traveler’s tale “Ramstein team conquers four-day Nijmegen walk” from the Aug. 14 edition of Stripes travel section. If you’d like to take on the Dodentocht next year, send me an e-mail and we can walk a few kilometers together.
email address
ok, I'll ask... What is your email address?? I can't seem to find here anywhere here.
e-mail
Hello Terry,
Would love to hear from you at bradburyk@estripes.osd.mil
best wishes,
Karen
Looking for long lost foto 1946
This is a 'long shot' search for the Stars and Stripes European Edition of
Ken Zumwalt era. In 1946, early Fall, Combat troops from Berlin, Germany
were going home on an Army troop ship called the SS Stevens Victory,
a one time Liberty Ship sold to the U.S. Army to bring home WWII soldiers.
A twelve years old kid was among the soldiers about to embark the
Stevens Victory from the holding platform at Bremehafen, Germany. The Kid
was not allowed to embark to come to the United States. About that time,
a Stars and Stripes Fotographer took the picture of the little boy. The copy of
that picture was found printed on one of the pages of the Stars and Stripes.
A made copy was made, but got lost some years ago.
What chance of getting another copy is there, at this time frame?
Does anyone have a clue?
Thank you for your concern and efforts. Sincerely, Fred Giers
Dodentocht
It was great to read your comments and sums up the event totally. I hardly ever say two words during the walk, preferring to sink into a shell and suffer in silence. I was surprised at the high fall-out rate this year as the weather was about perfect. The worst one was about 8-9 years ago when it just bucketed down all night and most of the next day. Horrendous!
In my opinion this is by far the best organised walk I have ever participated in anywhere. (I've never done a Volksmarch but enjoy Bastogne) I gave up with Nijmegen a few years ago as the organisation seemed to me to be an obstacle course especially for 'uitwohners'. The walk itself is great if you can manage to find accommodation, get a parking pass, a 'verzorgingpass', an early start pass on day 4 and get permission to participate in the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony and anything else that is available if you can unravel it. No, Bornem is without doubt exemplary and you get a pineapple! Good luck to future Dodentochters.
IF YOU LIKE WALKING, SAVING MONEY AND FUN ...
Rural, western France -- the region known to the outside world as Brittany -- offers some wonderful opportunities for walking-oriented tourism. Being a little bit off the beaten path, Brittany doesn't draw as many tourists as Paris to the east or the Riviera to the south. That means you can often avoid tourist prices.
If you're at all into ancient stone formations with a mystical quality, you gotta see The Megaliths of Carnac near the coast in the French department of Morbihan (in France a department is sort of like a county in most of the US or a parish in Louisiana).
The Megalthis of Carnac just go on and on and on. They make Stonehenge look like a pile of driveway gravel. There aren't any crowds. It is easy to park. If you want to picnic, no problem. Finding a wonderful lunch with complimentary wine at a very inexpensive price is the easiest thing in the world.
And walking is very big in Brittany. Almost all the little communities have their own local walking tours, clearly posted on signs and explained in little free English language handouts. But there are also longer routes, if that's what suits you. In Brittany, you can walk 100 yards or 100 miles and not spend very much money.
Think about it ...
REG CROWDER
Freelance Financial and Investment Writer
London, England and Brittany, France
http://www.journalistdirectory.com/journalist/TgTQ/REG-CROWDER