XENIA, Ohio — The word "volksmarching" may conjure images of an army on the move, but the German sport of volksmarching is winning converts all over the United States and the world.
Volksmarching — literally, "people walking" — is a noncompetitive six-mile (10-kilometer) walk over a marked course of varying difficulty.
Brought to the United States by American military stationed in Germany, it's not a pledge walk and it's not a race. It is a fun activity you do with a club, with your family, with your pet, or all by yourself, according to the Texas-based American Volkssport Association Web site, www.ava.org.
While it's been around for "a while," volksmarching "really took off in the '70s and '80s," according to AVA Regional Director Don Robinson.
Robinson has been active in volksmarching since 1988, when a local volksmarching club, the Fairborn-based Ohio Wanderfreunde, hosted a walk in Xenia and he decided to participate.
Robinson, 65 and retired from civil service, used to do more than 100 walks each year throughout the country until recently, when he took up marathon running. He now makes only 70-80 walks annually.
As a regional director, Robinson is on the national board of directors for the AVA and oversees sanctions for walks in Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. He also helps new volksmarching clubs get started.
There are more than 500 volkssport clubs throughout the United States, and many thousands around the world. Local clubs host the walking events and club members select a trail for safety, scenic interest, historic areas, natural beauty or walkability.
Walkers keep track of their achievements in individual log books.
Trails are rated on a scale of one to five, with one as the easiest and five being the hardest, according to retired engineer Lowell Norton, 79, of Springfield, Ohio, who is vice president of the Tecumseh Trailblazers volksmarching club. Norton often marks the trails.
The trails are marked or maps provided. Trails may be in cities, towns, parks, forests, rural areas, anywhere there is a pleasant or interesting place to walk.
Trails rated ones are considered easy and are often held on pavement or well-maintained trails with no significant hills. These are the only walks that are suitable for wheelchairs or strollers, according to the AVA Web site. The site calls trails rated five "very difficult," most likely in a natural setting with poorly maintained paths and steeper or hilly inclines.
Many walks are open for no charge. Some let walkers register for an event award, usually a medal or patch. Both Norton and Robinson have boxes of medals from walks they've made.
Medals usually cost less than $7 and can range from the simple, such as a military style ribbon with the date and place of the walk, to the ornate, such as a crystal snowflake for a winter walk or engraved eagle pin for a walk at the nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Most people take about two hours to stroll the 10K trails, Norton said.
Both cite social as well as health reasons for joining a volksmarching club. "We've made many new friends," said Norton, ticking off the names of seven couples that he and his wife Peggy met and socialize with regularly. The Nortons, like Robinson, would often travel to different states to participate in walks.
"We used to meet at a certain campground the night before the walk and have a potluck or some other social event before the walk," Norton said.
"It's certainly better than sitting in front of the TV," said Robinson. "And the only real investment is a good pair of shoes."
The Dayton, Ohio, area is one of the largest areas in the country for volksmarching and volksmarching clubs, Robinson says. One of the oldest is the Purple Penguins volksmarching club in suburban Beavercreek. Clubs welcome new members, but you don't have to join a club to enjoy the volksmarch events. All events are open to the public.
Events can be annual, one-time or year-round. A year-round event is a self-guided walking event available most days of the year. The local club selects a trail, draws maps, writes detailed walking instructions and sets up a permanent starting point. Participants arrive during the stated open hours, register, take a map, and enjoy the trail.
These events include a series of state parks in several states, tourist attractions and national parks and good daily exercise routes in hundreds of communities. Some are scenic, some are historical, some are just for exercise. An avid hunter, Norton likes the nature trails best. His favorite walks are at the nearby Glen Helen Nature Preserve in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and the walk across Michigan's Mackinac Bridge. He has walked in 18 states.
The starting points are often hospitals, hotels, or convenience stores. At the start point is a start box. The start box takes many forms: It may be a bureau or kiosk, or it may be a file box or tool box. Participants write their names on the log on the start box, stamp their individual record book and, if desired, take an award, which can found in the start box or available by mail through the local club.
The year-round event book, Starting Point, has details on all events in the United States. An online calendar also lists minimum details, with links to more information provided by the clubs.
For the state's bicentennial in 2003, Ohio's volksmarching organization, Ohio Wanderfreunde, is offering a special "Walk the 88" program, which has volksmarching events in all 88 counties, Robinson said. There is another series of walks from Illinois to Oregon that follows the route of explorers Lewis and Clark.
"A lot of volksmarchers have the ambition to walk all 50 states," said Norton. "And a goodly number of them have already accomplished that. We know of one woman who flew to Alaska, went on a walk, then got back on a plane!"
The AVA offers a national individual membership Volkssport Associates for $25 a year, which includes the magazine The American Wanderer and a listing of events throughout the country.
To keep track of how participants are achieving their fitness goals, the AVA also offers an Individual Achievement Award Program. Distance and Event Record Books are available for $5 each at all events.
"We've seen a lot of the country," Norton said, citing such places as Harry Truman's home in Independence, Mo., and the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. "We wouldn't have seen them without doing a walk there."