Day 2 Nijmegen Marches by RSM McDonald (Lancs ACF)
On Day 2 we were the second detachment leaving at 5:30am instead of 5am. Again we were first in the queue due to making a habit of ironing kit, polishing boots and packing all other things away the night before. Breakfast each day was always sandwiches as you pick your meats and cheese and things like milkshakes and butter milk. At breakfast we always made a lunch each as well to pack into our webbing for the walk. Although lunch was always provided at the 2nd rest area I always found myself eating some sandwiches throughout the days marching as you were bound to get hungry with such an amount of exercise. The 2nd day proved much tougher as we met more civilian walkers. To remain focused and on time we had to be vigilant with the crowds and occasionally latching on to the person in front to prevent people cutting in our ranks. Excuse me would be said over and over and sometimes just raising arms to aid shuffling someone slightly out of the way to maintain the 5kph we were all comfortable going at. We arrived back at camp in just under 7 hours making us the 3rd cadet team to return. Being only around 2 o'clock when we got back to our rooms after watching a few teams arrive in the beer tent and celebrating we had plenty of time for an in-depth foot inspection and again squaring all kit away. This consistent and routine foot care was clearly essential as it enabled us all to continue walking at a strong pace. Without the knowledge of footcare and muscles from the team leader we would have really been struggling.