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Barbara Irwin, Broker / Owner

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Setting The Pace

Joyce O'Rear, 70, loves being fit and active, but never cared for competitive sports, making her decision to join a walking club a natural choice after retiring and moving in 2002 to Fredericksburg, Texas (pop. 24,286).

Today, she is president of the Fredericksburg Volkssport Club, one of more than 300 active American Volkssport Association (AVA) clubs across the nation.  The clubs offer noncompetitive walks, hikes, bike rides, swims and, in some regions, cross-country- skiing, but the walking events--called volkswalking or volksmarching-- draw the largest crowds.

"Even though volkssporting is really popular, most people still don't know about it," O'Rear says.  "But among people who do know about it, they're sold."

The clubs sponsor thousands of events each year and map, rate and mark local outdoor walking and hiking routes that generally are 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) or longer.  Participants can choose their own pace and often keep records of their mileage.

The tradition began in Germany, where Fredericksburg native Kenn Knopp went on his first volkswalk while visiting relatives in 1976.

"In Germany, almost every town has a club," says Knopp 77, who started America's first volkssport club in his hometown that same year.  The concept quickly spread nationwide, particularly through military service personnel who had been stationed in Germany and were familiar with volkssporting.  Today, the AVA is headquartered in Universal City, Texas, near Randolph Air Force Base.

"Walking is fun," says Knopp, who attributes his 60 pound weight loss to walking.  "And in this organization, it's really fun because it's about building friendships too."   

Taken from AmericanProfile.com