There are two walks this weekend that are convenient for readers in the Kaiserslautern military community: Lambsborn, west of Landstuhl, has trails of six, 10 and 20 kilometers starting at 7 a.m. There is a shuttle service from the parking area to the start hall.
The other walk is north of Kaiserslautern at Schiersfeld. Its trails also open at 7 a.m. both days.
For those heading to Lütjensee, Germany, on Saturday for the marathon, make sure you are there by 7 a.m. to catch the bus that will take you to the start of the walk.
If you go to the walk in Tres, Italy, it would be better to park close to the end point at the Campo Sportivo and walk uphill to the start point at the church. That way you will not be facing an uphill hike to your car after the walk, especially if you walk one of the longer trails. Find more information on Italian walks in the complete article found at legacy.stripes.com/military-life/travel/Europetravel/Volksmarch.
There is plenty of time to sign up to help at the Heidelberg Volksmarch Sept. 25 and 26. There is no such thing as too much help when you hold a walk of this size. Why not plan to walk one day and volunteer to work on the other? Sometimes clubs will have a “workers walk” on a separate day from the event so that people can work both days to support the walk and still get their IVV credit and mug. For more information about helping the Heidelberg club, contact hiwc@yahoo.com or see its Web page at www.hiwc.de.
While you’re in the volunteering mode, contact the Ramstein Roadrunners and offer to help with their Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. Contact them at Ramsteinroadrunners@yahoo.com.
It takes a lot of work to sponsor a volksmarch. It is easy to participate in a walk, grab a bite to eat and then take off. Your few hours of participation pales in comparison to the hundreds of hours required to make the walk happen. The easy part is the walking…you need to pitch in and do some of the nitty-gritty work that is so important for a walk to be a success.
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A couple of Wednesdays ago, we went to the three-walks-in-one-day volksmarches near Stromberg, Germany. The weather was pretty good despite a lot of clouds. We managed to avoid the rain until driving home. The trails were pretty good and the three walks were well organized. We really enjoyed running into and talking with several friends. Dave and Debbie Miller were there from Heidelberg along with Phyllis Wiggins. We also met “Pat” Patterson and Heike Brown from the Ramstein area. It was great walking, talking and sharing stories with these dedicated volksmarchers.
We got a note from Lew Harrison who told us the 50k trail at Venwegen, Germany, was, “hard — very hard!” We did a shorter distance at the same walk and thought there were some pretty steep hills. We can only imagine how difficult the longer trails were. Congratulations, Lew, for completing such a daunting walk.
We also heard from Maureen McHugh-Castro that the walk in Hambach, Germany, was challenging. In addition to a lot of rain, “… almost the entire walk was uphill — don’t quite understand why normal physics does not apply.” We felt the same way after doing a walk in Boppard a few years ago. At least we had a wine festival with fireworks to attend afterward, so we quickly forgot about the physics-defying walk.
Maureen reminded us about the Krippenwanderung coming up Dec. 4 and 5 in Ebernhahn, Germany. This walk, which features numerous nativity scenes along the route, is held only every three years. The prize for the walk is a ceramic nativity scene. We’re marking this walk on our calendars for sure.
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“Mahalo nui loa” to this week’s contributors: William Castro and Maureen McHugh-Castro; Cath and Rob Floyd; Richard and Donna Glenn; John and Evelyn Golembe; Ramona and Horst Kechelen; John, Mary and Tess Laub; Tim and Luchi Lynch; “Pat” and Cheryl Patterson; Bob Gambert; Lew Harrison; Wayne Henry; Nora Hernandez; Doug LeVien; Dave Miller; and Rick Sciascia.
Thanks a lot for the fliers and keep them coming.
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Miscellaneous short notes about this week’s events:
• If you attend the walk in Philippstein, Germany, make sure you stop to see the castle in Braunfels.
• The walk in Creussen, Germany, has one of our favorite prizes — a ceramic building that holds a tea-light candle. We have a church, train station, farm house and several others. This time the prize is a mill with a waterwheel. This is the first time we have seen a mill offered.
Here are some additional notes about this weekend’s Italian walks from Clark Soeldner:
• We shortened San Sebastiano di Cologna Veneta to San Sebastiano to save space in the chart. The prize for completing this walk is a bag of the “famous” Colognese potatoes.
• The walk in Soave on Friday evening is only a three-kilometer route that is repeatable. That means you need to do at least two laps to go the minimal distance to get IVV credit. However, this is an illuminated evening walk that goes past a castle, so two laps should be no problem.
E-mail volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO, AE, 09752.
