WHY ‘KENNEDY’?

As newly elected President of the United States in 1962/63, John F. Kennedy renewed a military order issued by President Theodor Roosevelt in 1908, according to which civil servants should be able to walk 50 miles in 20 hours. 50 English miles is about 80 kilometers. In February 1963, Kennedy’s brother Robert set off from Washington to Camp David, 50 miles away, in freezing temperatures and accompanied by a few loyal followers. Although Robert got lost, he was the only one of the group to cover the full 50 miles. When this appeared in the newspaper, a popular sports movement broke out in the USA! Scouts and youth clubs in particular organized their own ‘Kennedy marches’. The idea soon spread across the Atlantic to the Netherlands via TV. In April 1963, the first ‘Kennedymars’ took place in Sittard (Limburg), in which eleven young people took part – ten of them reached their big goal after 19 hours. Our sport was born!