Mackenzie Mills, age 4

Helen Koeppen

They will receive a pedometer and you can see their arrows and all of the arrows entered on the Family Fun Walk route today!

All pre-registered marathon participants will receive a certificate with their name on it denoting they have completed a marathon.  They are printed and just waiting for you to cross the finish line!

Those who register for the marathon during the registration hours on Friday or Saturday will get a certificate, but it will have a space to write in their name rather than being printed with their name, as we have done in past years.

These changes are in response to the poll we took of our marathoners last year.  They strongly wanted an award with the year on it and that said they had done a marathon.  Previously we had patches, but our core committee marathoners and marathon finishers overwhelmingly said they don't wear or display patches, but they would value something different with the award.  We think most marathoners will love this bold neck ribbon and wear or display their medal with pride.

We didn't previously do personalized certificates because our finish area was already bogged down with giving out 12 different awards based on years walked.  Now that everyone gets the same award except the marathoners, we hope the lines go faster.  We can take the extra time to go through the stack of certificates to give each pre-registered marathoner their personalized certificate.

We can't guarantee that we'll have a working printer and computer operator at the finish to produce certificates for those who register on Friday or Saturday, but that may happen as well.

We're sorry for those who will miss the patches, but our designers and quartermaster and budget are very happy to do without the extra hassle.

Triathlon finishers will likewise get a Triathlon ribbon on their swim medal rather than a try-athlon patch as they did in the past.  Our quartermaster says the ribbons are buried in the box of medals and so we don't have a photo of them yet.  But we believe they really are there.

Day of event registration is open Friday April 24 from 2 pm - 6 pm, Saturday April 25 6:30 am - 12 pm, and Sunday April 26 7:30 am - 12 pm.  You can ALWAYS register at the event! 
Location: Vancouver Hilton Hotel, 301 West 6th St., Vancouver, WA USA 98660.  This is registration, packet pick-up, start and finish for our walks, and bikes, and registration for the swims (shuttle provided to and from the Hough Pool).

Team registration: You can register online as a team or register together at the event at the Group Registration Table.  If you have the names of your team members but are unable to register online, email the registrar by April 22 with the team information and we can be prepared for your team and make the day-of-event registration go faster. Team roster sheet (note that at the event your members will have to fill out and sign start cards, so it's best to use this sheet in advance and email it to the registrar, it is of limited use to bring it to the event)

 Our registration numbers are trending the same as for 2008, so it looks like another good year.

If you have questions about your registration, email the registrar.

See: http://www.discoverywalk.org/iml/maps.html

These are for overview purposes only.  On the day of the event, you will receive a detailed map and written instructions specific for the distance you are walking.  Our routes are also marked with color-coded arrows and ribbons.

 Our t-shirts this year feature our 2009 logo of the family walking. The shirts for the public will be in a soft meadow green. The volunteer shirts will be in purple.  We have updated our CafePress.com online store where you can order a variety of articles with the new logo, including toddler and youth sizes.  If you order from CafePress.com, the items will be shipped directly to you.

We want every walker on Saturday and Sunday to take home a medal award.  Our quartermaster Krista loves awards and especially loves wearing a medal on a neck ribbon to work after a big event.  For this year, we found a new medal supplier who was able to give us a good price for a lovely cloisonne medal on a neck ribbon that lists the year 2009.  For those completing the marathon distance, their neck ribbons will say Marathon 26.2 2009.  For those completing the triathlon, their swim medal will be on a neck ribbon that says Triathlon.

In previous years, those who walked both Saturday and Sunday got a certificate for the second day, but only get a medal on the first day.  This year they will get a #2 pin to add to their medal and neck ribbon award they got on Saturday.

Our previous system gave out small number pins (and no medal) to returning walkers, with a new medal every 4th year. The plan was for them to add the numbers to the medal they earned the first year, 4th year, 7th year, 10th year, etc.  We will have the small number pins available for those who have earned them and want them, but you will have to request them at the Sales booth rather than at the finish.  This excludes the #2 pin, which we are using as stated above as the second-day award.  We will not be handing out the medals you would have gotten for the 4th, 7th or 10 year, as we are using those now and in the future as awards for the swim.

This year, our Friday Mayor's Walk Award will be our Peace Medal coin, which we have used in previous years but have not used for the past three years.  On one side is a reproduction of the Corps of Discovery (Lewis and Clark) medal they used as friendship offerings to the Native Americans along their journey.  The reverse side shows our Discovery Walk globe logo.

We will no longer have a unique patch for each year.  We have a stock of our club patch and the IML Walking Association patch, as well as the yearly patches from the past 12 years for those who want to purchase a patch.

We know change is difficult and there will be those who will not like these changes.  But we believe that our first, second and third time walkers will like this award system better.  It should be noted that this is not a cost-cutting move.  In fact, this new system will cost us more.  But it will reduce administrative time and time in the finish line, which should ultimately please the walkers, the volunteers and the registrar.

Friday Mayor's Walk: will include the new Vancouver Land Bridge, which connects the Columbia River to the Historic Reserve and celebrates the land, the river, and the people.

Saturday Walks: New routes for all distances.  The 5K route, which also serves as the Family Fun Walk, will enjoy a walk through the Vancouver Farmer's Market and then down the Columbia River Renaissance Trail to the Princess Ilchee Statue and back.

The 10K route will follow the 5K route for the first half, then join the 21K and 42K route at our Super Checkpoint at Marshall Center where you can enjoy a Germany theme food and fun.

The 21K route and 42K routes enjoy local greenways and neighborhoods.  The 42K route is a full circle route that only shares its first 10K and last 10K with the 21K route.  Both converge at the Marshall Center for a fun Super Checkpoint before your final return to the finish.

Sunday Walks: New routes for all distances.  We have eliminated using buses.  You will start and end your walk at the Vancouver Hilton Hotel.  All routes visit a Super Checkpoint at the Washington State School for the Blind.

Bikes: We have added a 15K route  and will also have a 10K family route available for those who need an even shorter route.

We should have overview maps available before the event.  Each walker and biker receives a detailed map and directions at the start.  Our routes are also marked with ribbons and arrows.

 We do not have 32K routes this year.  That distance offering was only sparsely used and we need to put our trailmarking and sweeping teams to better use on the other routes.  It takes about 4 hours to mark each 10K of trail properly.  We are always recruiting experienced trail markers.

Cascade Heart presents the Friday Mayor's Walk

Realvest Corporation presents the Saturday Lewis and Clark Walk

Veolia Water presents the Sunday Lt. Broughton Walk

In these tough economic times, sponsorships are shrinking and that is difficult for events such as ours which endeavors to keep entry costs very low while providing an award and a full service event. Our goal is to promote healthy lifestyles and international friendship.

We want as many local/regional walkers to attend as possible, so we have a very minimal registration charge - and free for children age 12 and under.  Our team entry fee is only $5 per person as we want community clubs, groups, and families to encourage each other to get out and walk!

We rely upon sponsorships and grants to fund our publicity budget and the extras we provide at the event.  We are very grateful for our generous returning sponsors.  We seek new sponsors to allow us to spread the word about our event and bring even more people our introduction to healthy living.

Our Earlybird rate is only $5 per event.  That includes the award for everyone and (if you have their record books) IVV and IML credit.  The Earlybird rate lasts until Nov. 1.

After November 1, the rate goes up to $8 per event.  After March 15, it goes up to $10 per event.

You can always get the lowest rate by rounding up your friends and forming a team!  The team rate remains $5 per event through the day of event.  Get your club members together, grab everyone from the neighborhood, church, or family reunion and bring them to the Discovery Walk Festival!

Register now online or by mail.

http://uofgts.com/docs/DW/index/index.html

We apologize for the breakdown of the ice cream truck for Saturday.  The sponsor providing the truck and ice cream is likewise disappointed.  My personal motto is to underpromise and overdeliver (don't anybody there is ice cream until it is being handed out!)  But when a sponsor commits to a giveaway they expect pre-publicity of it as part of the package.

Our committee has long been planning to re-do the Sunday walks to eliminate busing the long distance participants.  For the past two years we have enjoyed showcasing the lovely WSU campus and Salmon Creek Greenway, which only busing would allow.  But this year the buses we contracted for did not arrive.  We went to Plan B and used the swim shuttle to take the few 33K participants to the starting point, or gave them the option of doing the 10K route three times.  But our shuttle van couldn't accommodate the numbers we knew we had for the 21K.  So we asked those participants to circle the 10K route twice.

This distressed some participants who were looking forward to a unique route.  As a committee of walkers ourselves, we know that the solution was not ideal.  But it allowed us to provide an instantly available marked and mapped route complete with checkpoints.   Our lesson has been learned, we won't be relying on buses in the future.  We will be redesigning the Sunday route to feature other lovely areas of Vancouver.  We apologize to those who were disappointed.

One gentleman made lemonade out of the lemon by circling the 10K route 4 times and thereby completing a marathon distance 2 days in a row - a personal goal for him in his 70th birthday year.  One of the groups of Japanese on the 33K route took a wrong turn and made the route into a marathon distance by accident.  They were happy - they preferred to do the longer distance!
 

A happy surprise were the number of families and  teams.  Our Family Fun Walk participation went up 65% and we had almost twice the number of teams registered as last year.  The good weather probably contributed to these successes.

We are looking forward to 2009.  We have ideas brewing to improve the award system, routes, and entertainment.   We can always use new people on our Core Committee to bring new ideas and work to implement them. 

 Our walk sponsor for Saturday is Realvest Corporation.  The Family Fun 6K walk is sponsored by Southwest Washington Medical Center.

 The Discovery Walk Festival continues on Sunday with walks of 6K, 10K, 21K, and 33K. You may also enjoy a 25K or 50K bike and one to two 300 meter swims.

The festival greeted a group from Austria and walkers from Belgium in addition to those from Canada, Japan, Germany and Norway.

Local groups registering Friday included a large contingent from sponsor Veolia Water and the Prairie High School Junior ROTC.

The fun continues as we walk the Saturday and Sunday walks and enjoy the Sunday bike and swim.

Day-of-event registration is open 6:30 am - 12 pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Event start times vary by distance, check our web site http://www.discoverywalk.org for details!

National Challenges

State Challenges

Here are the various Challenge programs that each of our routes qualifies for:

All Walks:
NATIONAL CHALLENGES
50 states - Washington
A to Z - Vancouver
WASHINGTON CHALLENGES
County: Clark

Friday 5 km
NATIONAL CHALLENGES
River walk
Railroads
Native American Culture
WASHINGTON CHALLENGES
Water:  Rivers/Bridges ( walker picks one)
History: Monuments

Friday 10 km
NATIONAL CHALLENGES
River walk
Railroads
Presidents
Courthouses
Native American Culture
WASHINGTON CHALLENGES
Water:  Rivers/Bridges (pick one)
History:  Monuments/Historic Register/Museums (pick one)

Saturday  6 km
NATIONAL CHALLENGES
Breweries
WASHINGTON CHALLENGES
History: Monuments/Museums (pick one)

Saturday 10 km
NATIONAL CHALLENGES
Colleges (Clark)
Presidents
Breweries
Native American Culture
WASHINGTON CHALLENGES
History: Monuments/Museums/Historic Register (pick one)

Saturday 21 km - 32K - 42K
NATIONAL CHALLENGES
Colleges (Clark)
Breweries Presidents
Railroads
River walk
Native American Culture
WASHINGTON CHALLENGES
Water:  Bridges/Rivers/Lakes (Pick one)
History: Monuments/ Museums

Sunday 6 km
NATIONAL CHALLENGES
Colleges (Clark)
Presidents
WASHINGTON CHALLENGES
 History: Historic Register/Monuments

Sunday 10 km
NATIONAL CHALLENGES
Colleges (Clark)
Presidents
Railroads
River walk
Native American Culture
WASHINGTON CHALLENGES
Water:  Bridges/Rivers (pick one)
History: Monuments/Historic Register/Museum (pick one)

Sunday 21 & 33 km
NATIONAL CHALLENGES
Colleges (WSU-V (33K only), Clark)
River Walk
WASHINGTON CHALLENGES
Water:  Bridges/Rivers (pick one)
History: Museums/ National Historic Register

Registration:  Those not registered can register at the event.  Registration is open 12 pm - 6 pm Friday and 6:30 am - 12 pm on Saturday and Sunday.  The rate is $10 per person per event (each walk, bike, or swim).  Children age 12 and under are free.

Team Registrants: If you registered with a team, your start card is at the Group Registration Table filed under your team name. We have a Team Award plaque for the first 33 teams registered. Team registrants can add more events and pay the team rate of $5 per event. Please do this at the Group Registration table only to avoid confusion.

New Teams: Teams are comprised of 10 or more people registering together. If you have a new team to register, come to the Group Registration table. New teams must pay a minimum $50 to register the team, either together or by having a representative register and pay and allowing the team members to pick up their start cards when they arrive. This must only be done at the Group Registration Table. The team rate is $5 per person per event (half the regular registration price). We are very happy to have a growing number of teams participating.

Water Bottles: Southwest Washington Medical Center is sponsoring a reusable water bottle for all participants. We will not be providing disposable bottles of water.

Trail Support: We have a checkpoint with water, sports drink, snacks and restroom every 3-4 miles. Please bring your favorite refillable bottle with you or use the one provided by our sponsor. Expert recommendation is that walkers/runners drink when thirsty. Carrying a water bottle ensures you are able to do so.

Saturday Marathon and 32K Routes: To provide the best trail support, we have changed the format of the Saturday long distances. The 42K and 32K walkers must start between 7 and 7:30 am. Both the 42K marathon and the 32K route walkers will first complete the orange 21K route, returning to the Hilton Hotel. The 42K walkers must then complete a second circuit of the 21K route, starting by 12 pm. The 32K walkers must then complete a circuit of the 10K route, starting by 12 pm. If you cannot start the second circuit by 12 pm, you should finish having completed 21K. Our trails close at 4 pm, and we begin removing trail markings and shutting down checkpoints after 12 pm, so we cannot allow you to attempt to complete the route if you cannot start your second circuit by 12 pm.

Sunday 32K and 21K routes:
These walkers first check in at the Hilton Hotel. Registration is open from 6:30 am. Then you will board bus shuttles to your start point. Sorry, no dogs are allowed on the buses. If you wish to complete the long distance with a dog, we ask you to circle the 10K route multiple times instead.
Board shuttles at Columbia St. Convention Center Entrance to Hilton
32 Km bus departs at 6:45 and 7:00
21 Km bus departs at 7:40, 7:55, 8:15, 8:30, 8:45, and 9:05

Bikes and Swims are on Sunday Only
We moved these events from Saturday.

Swim Shuttle Van: From Hilton to Hough Pool and return.
Operates every 20 minutes from 1 pm - 3:30 pm for taking to pool. Last return 4:15 pm.
The swim event has a medal award this year. We charge only a single fee but you can swim twice and earn 2 IVV credits for the one price. The swim is at the Hough Pool indoor swimming pool. You can use any swimming stroke, use a kickboard, or waterwalk in the pool.

Try-Athlon: If you walk any day, then do the bike and swim on Sunday, we award you the Try-Athlon patch.

Passport to Wellness: Passport stamping will be on Saturday only, at the Southwest Washington Medical Center booth at the finish.

Umpqua Ice Cream: On Saturday, Umpqua Bank is sponsoring Umpqua ice cream. We plan to offer this in Esther Short Park near the Hilton. Your race bib will have a tear-off tag you can redeem for ice cream.

Nautilus: Nautilus is offering exercise equipment as a door prize. Your race bib will have a tear-off tag to fill out with your contact information to enter into this drawing.

Gorge Delights: All-natural fruit bars! Gorge Delights will be providing samples for our walkers.

Food: We are not offering food or drink for sale in the ballroom this year. The Hilton has an excellent coffee stand next to the ballroom selling coffee, water, pastries, fruit and sandwich-like items. They have a wonderful bistro and bar, Gray's at the Park, for a full meal or libations. Starbucks Coffee, Subway and other restaurants are located within a block of the Hilton. We also encourage you to enjoy the food booths, fresh produce, and local artists at the Vancouver Farmer's Market, next door to the Hilton on the west side of Esther Short Park, open 9 am - 3pm Saturday and 10 am - 3 pm Sunday.

Entertainment: Discovery Ballroom with our start/finish
Friday: Jim Fischer on piano 5p - 7p. Our Opening Ceremony will be at 3:45 pm this year, with no ceremonies later.
Saturday: Jim Mishkin balloon artist/juggler, Recycled Quartet, Clark County Cloggers, Country I Am. We will not be having a post-event social this year as we have the past few years.
Sunday: Dance Infusion, River City Cloggers. Closing ceremonies 3 pm.

On-Course Photography: We will not have an on-course photographer this year, but our event photographer will be taking many photos and posting them on a web site where you may download them.

Expo: Browse our Expo for health and fitness information, products and services. Open in the ballroom with the start/finish 12 pm - 4 pm Friday, 9 am - 4 pm Saturday and Sunday. This year our exhibitors include:
Southwest Washington Medical Center
Cascade Heart
Absolute Life Chiropractic
Volks-Ware
OTSVA
ESVA
Walking Adventures
Gorge Delights
Choices 2010
Team in Training
Reshaping Success
SWWMC
Mickel Chiropractic
New Balance
Adventure Fitness LLC
Silver Star Search & Rescue
Forgey SportsMedicine & Rehab

Full info is at our web site:
http://www.discoverywalk.org