a challenge from their President. Furthermore, responsibility for the President's challenge was presumed to lie with the President's Council. This put the council in a tricky position. To disavow the marches would undermine its declared purposes. On the other hand, the council wanted no part of having the marches thrust on it as a program by an overenthusiastic public. As a compromise, the council sent out a cautious press release recommending a moderate, gradual program of walking for exercise. For the more persistent, the council prepared a background letter explaining the origin of the march, again suggesting a sensible walking regimen, and stating emphatically that government agencies were not sponsoring or rewarding hikes. However the Amos Alonzo Stagg Foundation did present Bronze medals to those who completed the hike in less than 12 hours during the initial 30 days of the challenge. 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. In 2020 and 2021 the march was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so including 2022 the march has been organised 57 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