Kennedy march
A Kennedy march is a long-distance march of 50 miles (80 km), named after former American president John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy March Sittard
The Kennedy-Mars Sittard is the oldest Kennedy March of the Netherlands.
History
The Kennedy march became a fad in the UK shortly after American people took up Kennedy's challenge. After Dutch television showed images of the Kennedy march craze, some Dutch people decided to make an attempt at finishing the 80 kilometers within 20 hours.
In the city of Sittard, situated in the most southern province of the Netherlands, four young people decided to walk the march during their Easter holidays. April 20, 1963, they began their route with 7 friends, beginning and ending in Sittard and covering pieces of Germany and Belgium. One girl took a bus in the German town of Heinsberg, but the other 3 girls and 7 boys persisted and finished in 19 hours' time. They decided immediately to try to do the march one year after and thus a tradition was born.
Statistics
The number of participants grew over the years, with a peak in 1989 when 7090 people enrolled. Having 3062 participants in 2009, the Kennedy March of Sittard is still the biggest long-distance hike (that is, a hike of more than 59 kilometers) of the Netherlands. Due to the risk of spreading foot-and-mouth disease, the march was cancelled in 2001, so including 2009 the march has been organised 46 times.
Organisation
The Kennedy March of Sittard has been, and still is, organised largely by members of the Van der Loo family, one of whom was in the four men who initiated the idea in 1963.
References