What is Volksmarching? It’s a non-competitive sport designed to help every participant get outside and moving at their own pace. Volksmarching is fun for the whole family, even with young children.

 

by Kathie Sutin

As experts warn that inactivity is making too many of our children look like the Pillsbury Doughboy, the time seems right for “Volksmarching.” It’s a great way to get the entire family moving. Even grandmas and grandpas can enjoy this non-competitive activity.

A Volksmarch is a walk that is usually five kilometers (3.1 miles) or 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) along a trail or itinerary established by a local club of the American Volkssport Association (AVA). Some 300 clubs across the country belong to the Association, a non-profit agency dedicated to non-competitive sporting events. Thousands more clubs belong worldwide to the International Volkssport Federation.

Participants walk at their own pace, making the activity perfect even for families with young children. And because there is no clock to beat and no competition, participants can engage in conversation as they walk, opening the doors for communication between parent and child while completing the event.

“The idea behind it is that families can do it together because it’s non-competitive,” said Ed Tod, treasurer of AVA South Central. “You can move at your own pace so you don’t have to rush through it.”

From babies to grandparents

The 5K and 10K options offer even more flexibility.

“The walks used to usually be 10K but it was a little too much for some of the families so we started offering 5K options so almost any family can do them,” Tod said. “We have people out there with kids and wagons and strollers and everything.”

Volksmarching is a great inter-generational activity, too. Tod and his wife often took their young grandchildren with them on Volksmarches. Now the children are in their teens and live in Florida but they still participate in Volksmarches when their grandparents visit them.

Volksmarch—literally “the people’s walk”—traces its roots to the mid-1960s in Germany, where it became a popular, stress-free way for people of all ages to exercise in a non-competitive, fun environment. Special one-time walks are offered on specific days with checkpoints set up along the way. Participants check in at the beginning and end of the trail as well as at points in between where water is often available. These one-day walks generally draw a lot of club members and other Volksmarch enthusiasts. Sometimes there are guided walks where a guide leads a group along the route. These usually have a single start time.

“Year round” walks are those which participants can do any time on their own. Volksmarchers can pick up a card and map at a designated start point such as a hotel, restaurant or other participating establishment. Check-in points are usually situated at businesses along the route. If there is no suitable place to stop and stamp your card, participants may be asked to fill in the name of a monument or other distinguishing feature on the route to ensure that they actually walked the entire distance, Tod said.

You do not have to be an AVA club member to participate. Walks are open to the public, and most are free.

NorthStar Trail Travelers annual meeting guided walk at Wm. O'Brien State Park, Minnesota. October 2009.

The extra fun of officially registering

However, much of the fun of Volksmarching comes in earning and collecting the medals, pins, and patches you can purchase if you register and complete a walk.

You can track your participation in the Distance and Event Record Book, which you can purchase for $5. Then, if you register for an event and pay a credit fee (usually $3 or less), the event and distance you walked are entered in the book. When you complete 10 events, 30 events, 50 events, 500 kilometers, 1000 kilometers, etc., you can redeem the book for a certificate of achievement, a patch and a pin. Your milestones are also noted in The American Wanderer, the AVA’s national publication.

Newbies can purchase a New Walker Packet for $5. The packet includes a “first event book” good for your first 10 events anywhere in the world to help you earn your first achievement award, a “first distance book” good for your first 500K, three coupons for free credit at events (that means you can walk at three events for free and still get credit), and a coupon for a free issue of The American Wanderer and 10 percent off your first AVA specialties order.

Easy to begin

Walks cover all kinds of terrain, with Volksmarches in cities, in rural areas, at the beach, in the mountains and deserts, in historical areas, and in the wilderness. The route usually includes interesting scenery, natural beauty, or historic points of interest. That makes Volksmarching a natural jumping-off place to learn about the history of the area.

Walks are rated one to five, so you know before you start how much of a challenge the route is before your start. A walk rated “one” is an easy walk on pavement or a well-maintained trail with no significant hills and probably suitable for wheelchairs and strollers. A “two” is moderately easy with no significant hills, and may or may not be suited for wheel chairs and strollers.  Walks rated three, four and five are progressively more difficult.

You can easily find the clubs and events in your own area via the AVA's website.

When you’ve done all your local walks, you might consider a “Volksmarch vacation.” Many Volksmarch enthusiasts schedule their vacations around walks they can take in other parts of the country. In fact, some Volksmarchers set a long-term goal for themselves to walk in every state and even in other countries.

Tod highly recommends Volksmarching as a family activity for any parenting style. “You can hardly find another pastime that you can do as cheaply,” he said.

 

Kathie Sutin is an award-winning freelance journalist based in St. Louis, Missouri. She specializes in writing about medical issues, travel, parenting, education, business, food and people. She has three children. 

Lead photo: Radek, Anezka and Sarah Lopusnik walking at Forestville State Park, Minnesota. August 2009. © 2010 Photos by Donna Seline