The second annual Expo is coming June 12 — and the second annual We Walk! marathon is past
North American Nordic Walking Expo
The second annual North American Nordic Walking Expo takes place on Saturday, June 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.at Hyland Lake Park Preserve in Bloomington, a Twin Cities suburb. Great Lakes Nordic Walkers, an energetic consortium of local instructors and suppliers, and Nordic Walking North America, which organized the first Expo in California last year, have partnered to put on the 2010 Expo. It features an imposing list of exhibitors, including local groups, advocates and national/international Nordic Walking pole makers and even a high-profile shoe company, Skechers. Click on the exhibitor list and then onto the individual links to get an idea of the range represented this year.
This year’s Expo provides an unsurpassed opportunity for Nordic Walking enthusiasts to celebrate their passion, to try new equipment and to get free instruction and coaching from some of the top instructors on the continent. I love the fact that in addition to such long-time pole makers as Exel, LEKI and Swix, such newer, innovative brands as Boomyah and Gymstick are participating.
Tom Rutlin, who was developing Exerstrider poles for fitness walking even before the big European pole-makers brought Nordic Walking poles into the sports and fitness market, is hooking an accelerated Exercise Method Nordic Walking instructor training course onto to Expo weekend. It takes place the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Bloomington on Sunday June 13, 1:00-5:00 p.m. It will earn new Nordic Walking instructors a Level 1 Certificate and those with prior Nordic Walking instruction certifications or Nordic walking program development experience (like YMCA programs), an Advanced EMNW Instructor certificate. Because of the accelerated format of this training, the fee is just $149 including instructional materials and one pair of OS2 or ACTIVATOR poles or $99 without poles. Space is limited; call 888-285-7392 to register.
We Walk! Marathon
The May 15, the second We Walk! Marathon took place on the Lake Wobegon Regional Trail, an old railbed, between Melrose and St. Joseph wasn’t on my radar screen in advance, or I would have posted news about it. If I had paid closer attention to blogs like Nordic Walk This Way, I would have known ahead of time. The event included marathon, half marathon and 50km distances and was “created just for walkers by walkers,” according to the organizer, WalkOn! Minnesota, adding, “We welcome all walkers, including, but not limited to, fitness walkers, power walkers, nordic walkers, race walkers, hikers, walk/runners and even, gasp, even ordinary walkers.” Eighty walkers started and all 80 finished, including three Nordic Walkers — all three women and all in the half-marathon distance. Click here for results. They have already announced their next date: May 21, 2011.
Thanks for posting Claire. Wish you could make it because you are the HEART of Nordic Walking!! http://www.greatlakesnordicwalkers.com now has the expo schedule posted.
We're really getting excited about the Expo Claire!
Suzanne Nottingham is also doing a Nordic Walk Now Instructor and Walk to Live training on Friday June 11 in conjunction with the expo.
I was sorry to hear that you won't make it this year, I'll have a copy of your book at my Nordic Walking Queen table! Perhaps we'll still get to walk together some day soon.