| Discovery Walk Festival 1999 |
The third annual Vancouver International Discovery Walk Festival, Washington, USA welcomed 1150 walkers from 20 countries, 18 states and 3 provinces for three days of walking and friendship The Walking site at About.com was one of many sponsors for the event. Many international walkers came for the Victoria Blossom Walks, held the third weekend of April yearly and toured the Northwest before arriving at the Discovery Walk Festival held the fourth weekend of April.
Full disclosure: Wendy Bumgardner volunteers for the Discovery Walk Festival and has served as the volunteer president of the non-profit organization that hosts the event.
The Discovery Walk Festival is the USA's only International Marching League event. The IML sanctions only one event per country each year. The 20 participating events draw hundreds and thousands of traveling walkers to enjoy these premier events and earn International Walker Awards for participating. These walks are non-competitive. The minimum distance for IML credit is 20 kilometers on two or more days. Victoria and Vancouver offer a variety of trail distances to entice all levels of walkers.
Friday April 22 the Mayor's Walk began as Mayor Royce Pollard and Chairman Bill Byrd cut the ribbon and about 700 walkers enjoyed the afternoon sunshine. The festival is held at the DoubleTree Hotel at the Quay Centennial Center. Sponsors and vendors sold t-shirts, New Balance shoes, walker accessories, and patches while outside Pepsi Co. gave away bottled water and Pepsi products. The high school steel drum band entertained the crowd waiting for the walk to begin. The event sponsor was the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington
The Mayor's Walk begins down Vancouver's Renaissance Trail along the Columbia River. The Columbia separates Vancouver, Washington from Portland, Oregon. Pictured at the far left is President Ole Oleson and his wife, of the Canadian Volkssport Federation. Also attending were President Ted Ballman, and Vice President Diane Evans of the American Volkssport Association and International Volkssport Federation Vice President Lynn Clark of Texas.
International walkers attended from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Britain, Finland, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Sweden, and South Africa. Pictured at left are walkers along the Columbia River about to make the first big turn near McMenamin's Brewpub.
Vancouver is a historic town, visited by Lewis and Clark on their way to the Pacific and settled by the Hudson's Bay Company. Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is a reconstruction of the fur trade capital of the West Coast from 1825 to 1860. In nine reconstructed buildings, costumed interpreters re-enact the past in the Chief Factor's house, kitchen, bakehouse blacksmith and Indian trade shops, dispensary, fur warehouse, and carpenter shop. At left, Charles Saunby of the International Walking Club of Great Britain carries the British flag back into the fort during the walk. Hard to say what the National Park Service employees thought of this, but since he was followed by the Japanese, Dutch, and German flags carried by various walkers, I'm sure he was well-received.
The walk continued down Officer's Row, "the oldest surviving neighborhood in the United States" with 21 exquisitely-preserved homes. Walkers returned to the start/finish for opening ceremonies followed by music by Celtic Pride.
The Saturday Lewis and Clark Walk was sponsored by Kyocera Industrial Ceramics. Walker could choose distances of the marathon (42K), 32K, 21K, 10K and 5K. On Saturday, 165 of the 934 walkers chose the marathon and headed out into the dawn at 7 am. Pictured at left are the Barretts, father and daughter, enjoying their third year of marathoning at the Discovery Walk Festival. The marathon route explored greenway trails throughout Vancouver, before returning to the Columbia River and following it westward to the finish. The soft sand at one point in the trail will have a wide paved path by next April.
Military groups are traditional parts of IML events. This year the Discovery Walk hosted the German Armed Forces University troop, US Marine Reserves, Canadian Armed Forces (pictured), Royal Netherlands Armed Forces, two groups of police from Britain, and the Battle Ground High School Junior Air Force ROTC.
Team participation was encouraged by awarding satin team banners to those who participated as a group. Sponsors were given t-shirts to field their teams. Families came out enjoy the 5K and 10K routes. At the start/finish there were free Pepsi products for all and musical entertainment throughout the day. The shorter trails enjoyed Officer's Row, Waterworks Park, and the Renaissance Trail. Walkers could turn into swimmers when they returned to enjoy the Discovery Walk Swims at nearby Hough Pool.
The Sunday Lt. Broughton Walk was sponsored by New Balance Shoes. Walkers received reflective armbands in addition to the Discovery Walk Award. Walkers explored western Vancouver and Vancouver Lake Park with distances of marathon (42K), 32K, 22K, 10K, and 5K. About 694 walkers participated on Sunday, which turned cool and rainy. Pictured at left are walkers pinning on their participant numbers, sponsored by your Guide.
Throughout the day there was musical entertainment at the start/finish. Trail support was provided by over 150 volkssport volunteers, members of the Clark County Amateur Radio Club, Boy Scouts, and paramedics on bicycle. New Balance supplied t-shirts for the volunteers. To cap the weekend, the Closing Ceremonies featured the Battle Ground High School Junior Air Force ROTC and thanks to the visiting walkers and dignitaries.
Pictured from left are Alois Hodny of the Czech Republic and the Brno IML Walk, Mayor Royce Pollard of Vancouver, IML Secretary Marina van Maaren de Straat, Pan-Pacific Marching League chairman Dr. Shinshiro Ebashi, Rotorua New Zealand IML chairman Henk Bussink, and Wolfgang Wagner, chairman of the Fulda, Germany IML walk.
Total participation over the three days was almost 2500 walkers. Next year the Discovery Walk Festival will be April 21-23, 2000.
Full disclosure: Wendy Bumgardner volunteers for the organization that hosts this event.
Net Links:
Discovery Walk Festival
International Marching League Events
Evergreen State Volkssport Association
Walking Calendar Oregon/SW Washington
Let's Talk About It!
Walking Bulletin Board
