European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 9, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday May 9,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 9 Over Here Road to Success begins with a Blister is face Long walk by Chuck Roberts staff writer Derheim West Germany a pfc. Russell Sohre suffered 25 blowouts last year while training for the annual International walk fest in Nijm Egen Netherlands. In the vocabulary of foot soldiers such As Sohre a Blowout describes the huge blisters that develop As they prepare for the four Day Granddaddy of Volks marches in july. And a Blowout is followed by an equally painful tire change. In Sohrens marching group from Derheim pfc. Tommy a a Doc Bruton is the Mechanic charged with making the changes. When a Soldier suffers a Blowout Doc hops off his Blue Schwinn Mountain Bike and Breaks out his Supply of hypodermic syringes filled with Benzoin. Bruton shoots the alcohol based solution directly into the Blister to toughen up the area that has been rubbed raw by marching. Soldiers compare docs tire changes to getting stung by a Hornet. During one recent training Day 2nd it. Jeff Kaufman Felt that Hornet after a Nasty Blister developed Between his toes. Realizing the pain he was about to encounter Kaufman asked a Soldier to sit on his leg so that he  jump too much when Bruton and his Needle went to work. For others the pain of blisters is better than the Benzoin Burn. Pfc. Leroy Olsen is one such Marcher a i got it the first time and said never  Sohre and Olsen Are among 17 soldiers from the 12th engr in in Derheim who have been taking part in this blistering work since the end of february. The Point of their not so fancy footwork is to qualify for the 12-person team that will March at Nijm Egen which attracts about 36,000 military and civilian marchers representing More than 35 countries. Meeting some of those people is the reason that Many of the soldiers want to go. Others just like the Challenge. A i want to go Home with that memory of walking 100 Miles in four Days in Holland a said spec. James Hart. The March is sponsored by the Royal Netherlands league for physical culture which originated the event As a Way to enhance the physical fitness of the dutch people. It will be held this year from july 17 to 20. The . Military sends about 800 people on 50 teams to the event each year and soldiers from Derheim have developed an attachment to the place. Since 1983, they have finished second or third but have never won the four Day 100-mile March. Although the March is not really a Competition american soldiers from the Berlin brigade the 3rd army div in Friedberg West Germany and the 12th engr in routinely compete for the top three spots. In Nijm Egen the team marches 25 Miles each Day wearing fatigues and a 22-Pound Backpack but the marching time is not recorded until the final Day. The record time for the engineers unit is five hours 14 minutes Whicha amps Jim Derheim soldiers from the 12th eng in team above approach the Village of so Habsburg West Germany during a 12-mile training walk. The walks take their share of casualties including 2nd it. Jeffrey Kaufman left w to receives an injection of Benzoin from team medic pfc. Tommy Bruton. Benzoin toughens the skin around a Blister. The Long walks Are not All work however As staff sgt. Peter Rompf below left gets sprayed with water by pfc. Dean Brewster. Was set in 1988 when the team finished third. The final selection for the Derheim team will not be made until the week before the event. Those who finish the four Day 100-mile di7 run that week with the fewest injuries and Best attitude Are most Likely to be chosen said staff sgt. Pete Rompf a Veteran of the 1986 Nijm Egen March who will help decide who goes on the walk this year. The team walks about 80 Miles each week during four Days of marching. Non marching Days include team sports aerobics and weight training. Soldiers Are relieved of their Job and duty details so that they can devote themselves to the training. Sohre said some people in his company accuse him of wanting to join the team to get out of doing work for six months but they never accept his offer to join the group for one of its 25-mile feet strolls. R Rompf can understand Why a a we re to the Point now where you take off your boots and see big blood stains and say a of  a for Kaufman blistered feet Are Only part of the problem. The toughest part is reaching the 18-mile Point when the mind begins a a saying  a you have to talk your Way through mentally a he said. Rompf by contrast has More trouble with the agony of the feet. It begins at about 17 Miles making the last five Miles a a real killer a he said. Although the team has trained in rain Snow and High winds the toughest weather has been the Lovely Sunshine this Spring which heats up the Asphalt and Cooks the balls of the marchers Rompf resorts to calling marching cadences and talking about movies a or anything a to take his mind off the pain. Rompf knows that the Long walks arc vital training. He still remembers hearing marchers screaming inside the medic tents because they had not trained extensively enough before the March in 1986. The troops from Derheim done to intend to let that happen to them this year. A the first time we walked 13 Miles everyone was in so much pain a spec. James Hart said. A we hit that Point the other Day during a 25-Milc March and i was thinking How easy it is  and there is one other Benefit Worth mentioning. Doc the nerdier said the number of blisters he has to treat with Benzoin has dropped from about eight each March to two or three a week