Welcome to the Bedford Hiking Club website.
We would like you to join us on our weekly walks. Check our schedule page for our walks. We welcome new people to do our weekly walks. Dues are $5.00 a year and the fiscal year is from June-June.
Many of us do a sport called Volkswalk. It is a non-competitive 3.125 (5k) or 6.25 mile (10K ) walk along a prescribed trail and is designed to encourage physical fitness, to promote camaraderie and to enjoy nature.
It is not a contest or a test of speed or endurance. Each participant is encouraged to walk at a pace that is comfortable and enjoyable.
The Bedford Hiking Club sponsors two year round volkswalks. One walk is Spring Mill State Park and the other walk is Bedford, IN (Limestone Walk) which features limestone of the area. In the U.S there are 1850+ walks that are available. Check the Links page and you can find the American Volkswalk website and read about volkswalking.
HISTORY OF VOLKSSPORTING
In the 1960's, in Germany, ordinary people were being prevented from having healthful outdoors family fun -- so many competitive sporting events were using up all the public park and recreation areas. So they started organizing non-competitive sporting events - "volkssports," which means "people's sports." Everyone who finished was considered a winner, no matter how long it took to finish. Awards were made available for a nominal fee, and record-keeping developed so that participants could track their individual achievements, both in distances covered and the number of events completed.
Volkssporting includes cross-country skiing, biking, and swiming, but by far the most popular is the walk, "volksmarch" (people's walk), or as we call it in the U.S., "volkswalk."
Germany-stationed American GI's and their families were drawn to volkssports, and brought them home to the U.S. Volkssporting is an international-recognized activity. The International Volkssport Verband (IVV) is the parent organization. The U.S. member of the IVV is the American Volkssport Association (AVA), headquartered in Universal City, Texas.
Our local officers are:
Jim Mount President jmount11@comcast.net
Linda Gates, Vice President hikerusa@comcast.net
Ann Steele, Treasure gibsonbanjo@yahoo.com
Andy Kluender Secretary ak2564@nwcable.net
We would like you to join us on our weekly walks. Check our schedule page for our walks. We welcome new people to do our weekly walks. Dues are $5.00 a year and the fiscal year is from June-June.
Many of us do a sport called Volkswalk. It is a non-competitive 3.125 (5k) or 6.25 mile (10K ) walk along a prescribed trail and is designed to encourage physical fitness, to promote camaraderie and to enjoy nature.
It is not a contest or a test of speed or endurance. Each participant is encouraged to walk at a pace that is comfortable and enjoyable.
The Bedford Hiking Club sponsors two year round volkswalks. One walk is Spring Mill State Park and the other walk is Bedford, IN (Limestone Walk) which features limestone of the area. In the U.S there are 1850+ walks that are available. Check the Links page and you can find the American Volkswalk website and read about volkswalking.
HISTORY OF VOLKSSPORTING
In the 1960's, in Germany, ordinary people were being prevented from having healthful outdoors family fun -- so many competitive sporting events were using up all the public park and recreation areas. So they started organizing non-competitive sporting events - "volkssports," which means "people's sports." Everyone who finished was considered a winner, no matter how long it took to finish. Awards were made available for a nominal fee, and record-keeping developed so that participants could track their individual achievements, both in distances covered and the number of events completed.
Volkssporting includes cross-country skiing, biking, and swiming, but by far the most popular is the walk, "volksmarch" (people's walk), or as we call it in the U.S., "volkswalk."
Germany-stationed American GI's and their families were drawn to volkssports, and brought them home to the U.S. Volkssporting is an international-recognized activity. The International Volkssport Verband (IVV) is the parent organization. The U.S. member of the IVV is the American Volkssport Association (AVA), headquartered in Universal City, Texas.
Our local officers are:
Jim Mount President jmount11@comcast.net
Linda Gates, Vice President hikerusa@comcast.net
Ann Steele, Treasure gibsonbanjo@yahoo.com
Andy Kluender Secretary ak2564@nwcable.net
