Yet another holiday weekend is upon us. Monday is Whit Monday and a public holiday in much of Europe, so you will see several Monday walks this week. While some of this week’s walks are Saturday and Sunday and others are Sunday and Monday, take special note of the walk in Beaufort, Luxembourg: It’s a Saturday and Monday combination.
• The Wolfschlugen, Germany, volksmarch on Saturday and Sunday is a Stammtisch event for the Stuttgart club, so look for its blue flag at a table in the start hall and go over and say “Hi!” Club members will be glad to see you. The prize for this event is an umbrella — something every volksmarcher should have.
• The walk in Schwedelbach, Germany, is very convenient for the walkers in the Kaiserslautern military community. You can start this event Saturday and Sunday between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. Organizers are offering B-medal prizes.
• Eifel-region walkers should find the Gladbach, Germany, walk convenient. Start the five-, 10- or 20-kilometer routes Sunday between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Monday between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. This walk is for IVV credit only.
• The prize for completing the walk in Unterthingau, Germany, is a toy VW Karmann Ghia.
• There are two interesting walks in Italy on Saturday. The Montecchio Precalcino event has a 10k route that you can walk repeatedly to go the distance of your choice. The cost is based upon the distance you choose, with a maximum fee of 4 euros. If you go 40 kilometers, you’ll receive a hat and a T-shirt. This event starts at 7:30 a.m.
Saturday evening in Gambugliano, there will be a six-kilometer repeatable course starting at 8 p.m. at il campo Sagre di Monte San Lorenzo. When you get your start card, sign up for the walker’s meal of bigoli au ragu with salsiccia, costine and dessert.
• We are heading to Weert, Netherlands, for a “culinary volksmarch” Sunday. This is a 16-kilometer route with four places to stop and eat. It is not IVV sanctioned, so we did not list it in the chart. We will, however, let you know how it went. If any readers have been to one of these events, please write and let us know about it.
• Clark Soeldner sent us the following information about the 35th edition of the Aviano Road Runners’ Marcia Madonna del Monte:“It was a beautiful day, maybe a tad on the hot side in the mid-80s, but no rain.“The final count of paid participants was 956, which is very good for us. We had three busloads of walkers: One from Slovenia with 33 folks, another from Borso del Grappa with 55, and the other from Marostica with 53. “We did have enough of the base folks volunteer to cover most of the needed positions. We consider the event a success.”Thanks for the feedback, Clark, it sounds like a rousing success. We really enjoyed walking in the Aviano area a few weeks ago, and if these walkers had as much fun as we did, they had a blast.We’re always glad to hear that these events go well. It seems that the number of volunteers is decreasing, while the amount of work required to host an event always increases. The Ramstein Roadrunners and Aviano Road Runners have been able to host successful walks due to the help of many volunteers. Now the big volksmarches in Stuttgart and Heidelberg are approaching: The Stuttgart walk is July 30 and 31, and the Heidelberg event is Sept. 24 and 25. Mark your calendars, plan on attending and help as you can.• More thanks to the following people for mailing in fliers: William Castro and Maureen McHugh-Castro; Michael and Michelle Connor; Cath and Rob Floyd; Richard and Donna Glenn; Wayne Henry; Ramona and Horst Kechelen; John, Mary and Tess Laub; Tim and Luchi Lynch; “Pat” and Cheryl Patterson; and Rick and Wanda Sciascia.
E-mail volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO, AE, 09752.
