The Volkswalking Bug -- Catch The Fever And Walk Off That Pumpkin Pie (And All That Whipped Cream)

You've probably heard of Volksmarches, the noncompetitive walks

- typically 10 kilometers - that happen practically every weekend around here.

Maybe you've passed a few Volksmarchers, walking briskly by with their record booklets and patches as you're biking on the Burke-Gilman Trail or jogging in Kelsey Creek Park.

Perhaps you've even thought to yourself, "That Volksmarching looks like fun. I ought to go on a walk sometime."

If so, be warned: Try it once and you're likely to become a full-fledged, booklet-carrying Volksmarch addict, like so many others in the Northwest.

Bob and Betty Kunzmann of Woodinville go on 10-kilometer walking binges together almost every weekend.

"It's just so much fun," Betty says with a shrug. "You just keep wanting to do more."

Or what about Mike Cashner of Beaverton, Ore.? He knew he was hooked when he found himself going from town to town - sometimes five or six in a day - to participate in the various walks.

"I'm one of the obsessed, addicted ones," he says. One Saturday a few weeks ago, he drove three hours to do two walks planned in Western Washington.

First, he walked 10 kilometers-worth of laps around the inside and outside of Puyallup's South Hill Mall. Then he did another 10 kilometers on a trail by the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.

"Sure, we all do that," he says. "I'm not gonna drive all the way up here for just one."

The Pacific Northwest has more events than any other region in the country, according to the American Volkssport Association, the sport's national organization. Though there is no official estimate of how many in the region participate in Volksmarches (literally "people's walks" in German, and often also called Volkswalks), the state Volkssport newsletter has a circulation of 10,000.

As with many addictions, the unafflicted often struggle to understand what makes Volksmarching so irresistible to their loved ones.

"Yeah, my sister asked me that, too," says Lori Young of Puyallup, when asked why she likes Volksmarching. "Well, I wouldn't normally drive to Federal Way just to poke around, but I would to walk," she says.

OK, but why not just walk? Why Volkswalk?

"Because I get my little patch and my little pin and my little credit," she says. The key to the craze

Those patches, pins and credit are the currency of the Volksmarching world. As a practical matter, anyone may show up to most any Volksmarch free and walk the course - no strings attached.

But most walkers soon get caught up in the reward system of the IVV (Internationaler Volkssport Verband, the international parent organization, based in Germany, where Volksmarching originated).

When Volksmarchers register for an event, they can choose to walk for free, for credit only or for credit and an award.

If they choose credit, they pay about $2. They write down the event and/or the distance they've walked in booklets provided by the AVA. When they finish, they get their booklet stamped.

Once they get a certain number of stamps, Volksmarchers send the booklets to AVA headquarters in Texas. In return, they receive a certificate, a pin and a patch.

For a bigger fix, Volksmarchers can pay a couple of bucks extra and get both credit and an award, usually a pin or patch, when they finish an event. They can also often buy hat pins, which are especially popular in the Northwest.

Hat pins, patches, certificates - it all sounds pretty harmless, right?

"That's what gets you into it," Betty Kunzmann says of the Volksmarching tokens. "Somehow, it makes you want to do it."

Often, a brimmed hat full of pins or a prominently displayed patch are the only things that make a Volksmarching junkie stand out from your garden variety walker. A holiday activity?

The temptation to Volksmarch may become especially strong during the holidays. You're stuffed full of turkey, you've got headaches thinking about all the shopping you've got to do. A nice long walk might get you feeling right again.

Think you could never become a Volksmarcher because you don't really like walking? That's what Betty Kunzmann thought, too.

"Whenever we were out driving with the kids, he'd say `Let's get out and walk around,' " she says about her life with Bob before Volksmarching. "And I thought, `Well, who wants to just walk around?' "

But her friends were doing it, so she tried Volksmarching, too, in 1987. She has walked about 150 kilometers - 93 miles - since. Luring even more converts

Since its inception in 1979, the American branch of the IVV has broadened its reach. Volkssporting events now include biking, swimming, skiing, in-line skating. . . even snowshoeing.

Local clubs (of which there are about 40 in Washington) hold year-round events - mapped, self-guided routes that a Volksmarcher can follow any day at any hour for credit.

Look closely and you'll see telltale signs of the self-guided walks everywhere: boxes with registration cards and maps at the Doubletree Hotel in Bellevue, at the Meeker Street QFC in Kent, at the Harbor Square Athletic Club in Edmonds.

"We have stray ones coming in all winter," says Dannielle McAlpine, manager of Le Bistro Coffee House in Gig Harbor, a starting point for a year-round walk. "I can't believe that there's still people out there walking because their walk is along the water and the wind blowing up from the water is just ice cold."

Believe it, Dannielle. This Volksmarching thing is like a drug. Someone should form a Volksmarchers Anonymous group.

Problem is, the members would probably take their 12 steps and keep on walking. ---------------------------------------------------------- If you go:

There's a Volksmarch this weekend starting at Edmonds Community College, 20000 68th Ave. W., Lynnwood. (Take Exit 181 from Interstate 5 and head west on 44th Avenue West. Turn left on 200th Street Southwest, drive 1.3 miles to the campus and follow signs to the start.)

You don't need to join a club to do this, or any other Volksmarches. You can register between 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. If you want credit, you must must finish by 3 p.m. If you don't want credit, take your time. Walking for credit costs $2. Walking for credit and an award costs $3, and hat pins cost between $1 and $2.50. The trail is mostly flat, on sidewalks and park paths.

For more information about this event, call 206-542-8694. For more information about Volksmarching, clubs near you and upcoming area events, contact the American Volkssport Association (210-659-2112 or 800-830-WALK; Web site: http://www.ava.org/) or the Evergreen State Volkssport Association, the central organization in Washington (800-828-WALK).