PAST VOLKSSPORT walkers enjoyed a path around Florence Robison Park in Battle Ground.
ANYONE CAN JOIN a map-guided Volkssport walk on their own schedule by picking up a map from the host place of business. The Starbucks store at 800 NE Tenney Rd., Suite 107, in Vancouver hosts a “walk box” for the Whipple Creek Volkssport walk.
When Clark County resident Tom Baltes was stationed in Europe with the military in the 1980s, he discovered a way to explore his new community and stay active. Baltes, together with his wife, Louise, and later their children too, joined the popular German activity Volkssporting.
Two decades later, retired and living in New Mexico, he discovered that Volkssporting was alive and well in the United States, and they have not looked back. Tom Baltes is now the president of Vancouver USA Volkssporters, and Louise serves as their secretary.
Baltes has walked almost 31,000 kilometers (that’s over 19,000 miles) in 22 countries.
“It’s such a fabulous way to see a community,” said Baltes.
Tom and Louise seek out Volkssporting walks in every town and country they visit. “You are getting a guided tour of the best walking routes in a community.”
Volkssporting is such a central part of Baltes’ life, he has turned to the sport to mark life milestones. When Baltes turned 60 years old last year, he celebrated by walking 60 kilometers in 9 hours and 50 minutes. He is already planning his 65th birthday Volkssporting adventure, a modified personal triathlon that will include 65 kilometers of walking, bicycling and kayaking (also Volkssporting events).
Volkssports are free, non-competitive events which are open to anyone to promote physical fitness and good health. Volkssport is a German term meaning “Sports for all people,” and includes such diverse activities as biking, swimming, cross-country skiing, or kayaking. The most popular activity worldwide is walking. There are 23 active Volkssporting clubs in
Washington who sanction over 250 events annually, as well as over 350 clubs in all 50 U.S. states, and groups in over 30 countries around the world.
Traditional Volkssporting events are scheduled for a particular date and location. The hosting club plans a route and handles registration and event setup, and routes are rated for their length and difficulty. Participants complete the event at their own pace, and can collect stamps in a club record book for events they complete.
Year round, or seasonal, events are completed independently, and can be done at any time. These walks are a great way to explore an interesting route in an area. The start location is typically a facility which has agreed to host a “walk box” with all needed Volkssporting materials, including route maps and stamps.
Many Volkssporters participate as much for the comradery as the exercise. Joe Titone of Camas is the president of All Weather Walkers, a Volkssport club in Vancouver. Since moving to Clark County from California 14 years ago, he has participated in “several thousand” walks and now has about 200 friends in the Volkssport community. “It’s a very sociable community,” he says, noting that participants are welcoming to all comers.
For an extra challenge, each year the American Volkssporting Association (AVA) creates walk themes. Walkers use special program books to record credit for completing AVA walks within a classification, such as the All 50 State Capitals, or Civil War Battlefields. They appeal to many interests – a 2012 challenge was the Worldwide Bakery Challenge, where qualifying events must pass a bakery anywhere in the world.
Volkssporters can earn stamps, pins and patches for the miles and events they cover. Baltes has a vest completely covered in patches from the almost 2,600 events he has completed, and laughingly admits he enjoys the bragging rights it earns among fellow members.
There are many opportunities to join a Volkssporting walk close to home, and anyone is welcome. On Wed., April 22, Vancouver USA Volkssporters will hold their weekly Wednesday walk in Battle Ground, starting at 10 a.m. from the Safeway store. They will organize both a 10K and a 5K group, and meet for an optional lunch at Mill Creek Pub afterwards.
Area clubs are hosting traditional walks at the Historic Vancouver 4th of July in Vancouver on July 4, Seaquest State Park in Castle Rock on Sept. 19, and Lewisville Park in Battle Ground on Sept. 26.
Year round (map-guided) walks are offered at host businesses around north Clark County – the Town and Wetlands Walk at La Center Marketplace; Battle Ground Lake State Park or Greenways at the Battle Ground Safeway; and Whipple Creek Walk starting at Starbucks on Tenney Road. Simply ask at the place of business for their Volkssporting box, and you’ll be on your way.
There are many informal group walks and year round walks as well. For local walks, check the websites for area groups – Vancouver USA Volkssporters atwww.iinet.com/~vusav/index.html; All Weather Walkers atwww.allweatherwalkers.org; and Longview Bordercrossers atwww.longviewbordercrossers.org.
The 2015 National Convention of the AVA will be in Salem, OR, this year, and special walks are scheduled at Fort Vancouver and Mt. Saint Helens, as well as other locations around Oregon. This will be a chance to walk with Volkssporters from around the country.
The American Volkssport Assocation has a New Walker program to get you started keeping track of your events and distance through the IVV (Internationaler Volkssportverband, the international Volkssport organization) awards program.
Membership information and more can be found atwww.ava.org.
