| Making an 18 Hour Walk |
Ultradistance walking events come in a couple of styles. The 18 Hour Walk chooses to have a variety of routes that walkers can walk in any order. The routes are mostly on sidewalk, without street closures, through historic and scenic areas of Vancouver, Washington.
The longer routes are 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) loops with a checkpoint at the 5 kilometer mark. There are two shorter loop routes around the perimeter of the VA Medical Center campus - a route of about 1 mile and a route of about 1 kilometer. After dark, only the short 1 kilometer route may be walked.
Every loop the walkers check in at the start/finish and have a chance to grab a snack from the food table, enjoy a wurst for lunch or a kebob and soup for dinner. Throughout the day walkers who want to do a single 10K volkssport-sanctioned event can join in on the same routes.
The 18 Hour Walkers can take a break at any time during the event an resume when they wish. They can also end at any point and receive their patch award, distance certificate, and medal for achieving 40K (bronze), 80K (silver) or 100K (gold). Walkers began to complete their walking in the early afternoon, and the field of 34 ultra walkers began to thin. Each was greeted with their medal as the finish staff hummed "Pomp and Circumstance." Suggestions to change to the "Chicken Dance" were rejected.
Lou Glosenger and Martha Korff staffed the checkpoint for the VA loops all day, cheering on their husbands. Sam Korff chose again to stay within the VA grounds completing the loops there throughout the day. He put in a strong effort to achieve the gold medal with 101 kilometers, up from his 85 kilometers in 1999. Eric Glosenger is a long-legged and fast walker who came in just shy of the gold with 94 kilometers, up from 80 in 1999.
Full Disclosure: Wendy Bumgardner was president of the non-profit club that hosted the event. Photos © Wendy Bumgardner.
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