Long-distance marching used to be a fact of military life for most of human history when proper boots could be as crucial to victory as proper weaponry.

These days, airplanes, ships, and motorized troop carriers have eliminated most of the need for modern armies to march hundreds of kilometres for weeks to a battle.

But this month, thousands of soldiers and civilians will be marching hundreds of kilometres through the countryside in the Netherlands during 103rd-annual Nijmegen International Four Days Marches. The Canadian Armed Forces are sending 14 teams of a dozen soldiers each to the event this year, and they will all be assembling at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa on Tuesday for a departure parade.

The Canadian teams will also be stopping at Vimy Ridge in France for commemorative services.

Kyle Bergeron will be the only soldier representing the SDG Highlanders at the event this year in Europe this year and will be marching with the National Capital Region team, of which he is also the second-in-command. This will be the second year he has taken part in the marches.

“I’m very much looking forward to it because both (the Netherlands and Vimy Ridge) are places are where some members of the SD&G Highlanders are buried, so it will be good to go and pay respects to members of our community,” said Bergeron. “I’m super fortunate that this is my second time going. Usually, the military describes it as a ‘once in a lifetime experience’ because there’s a rule that each team can’t have more than two repeat marchers.”

The SDG Highlanders landed at Juno Beach on D-Day in 1944, then played a key role in liberating the French City of Caen. They remained within Canadian battlegroups that moved on from the front lines in France, north through Belgium and into the Netherlands. The Glens were in the Netherlands when the Germans signed the capitulation of the country on May 5, 1945.

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The Nijmegen marches may be the largest walking event in the world, with around 50,000 soldiers and civilians expected to march 40 kilometres a day for four consecutive days, while caring a pack weighing 22 pounds.

“It can get pretty gruelling, depending on the weather,” said Bergeron. “Walking 40 kilometres in a day is hard, then getting up and doing it again is harder, and then you do it again for two more days after that.”

It’s an event that requires some training to prepare for the trek outside of the City of Nijmegen. Bergeron began training in March by going on long marches to build up his stamina.

“I started off a couple of times a week with five to 10 kilometres and then just worked my up from there to 40 kilometres,” he explained. “I’ve marched about 900 kilometres just from training. We did some back-to-back 40s and one week we did 150 kilometres,” he explained.

The marching in the Netherlands will begin on July 16.

ahale@postmedia.com

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