Story of Tijn

Tijn Groenen has been part of the 4Days Marches since 2023. At 19 years old, he was the youngest volunteer during the 106th edition.

For Tijn it goes without saying that he does volunteer work in addition to work and study. Tijn is currently on a gap year and is working full-time as a sales assistant. For the 4Days Marches, he took 1.5 weeks off to work as a volunteer.

Recognized

During the 4Days Marches Tijn says: "My alarm went off at 3.45 a.m. this morning. First by bike from Cuijk to the Vereeniging, and then from there by car to Valburg to the 1st checkpoint for all distances". With a team of 23 men, the first inspection was carried out. When the biggest peak was over, the eight of them went to the next checkpoint in Bemmel to see the same group of hikers pass by again and check. "I was even recognized by a hiker who had previously seen a photo of me on Instagram stories!"

Wire cutter

Tijn emphasizes how much fun it is to work as a volunteer at the Control Service. "Because you are very visible to the walkers, you often get thank yous. These are of course for all volunteers, but in the first instance they come to us. It's nice to get that appreciation directly from the people! Other than that, it's just a very pleasant service." The most important tool is, of course, the wire cutters: "If you drop them, it will initially cost you a drink for the coordinator. The second time you have to treat the entire service control!" laughs Tijn. So hold on tight!

77.141 steps

After day 1 of the 4Days Marches, Tijn has already reached 30,850 steps. So that's already 25km in the legs, of which the largest number of steps have been taken backwards. And the final score after four days? Tijn took 77,141 steps during the 2024 4Days Marches!

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