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

The start time is 7-7:30 am for both of these distances.  Slower walkers should start promptly at 7 am.

Both the 42K marathon and the 32K route will follow the orange 21K route and return to the Vancouver Hilton at 21K.  This allows for 4.5 - 5 hours to complete the first 21K.

The 42K walkers then AGAIN complete the 21K orange route.  They must begin their second circuit of the 21K orange route by 12 pm.  We will begin removing trail markings from the 21K route and closing down checkpoints, so do not delay in beginning your second circuit of the route. All walkers must be off the trail by 4 pm. 

If you are unable to start your second circuit of the 21K trail by 12 pm, you are asked to complete your walk and go through the finish as a 21K walker.

32K walkers likewise complete the 21K orange route once, then complete the 10K yellow route.  Please start your 10K walk by 12 pm as the trail marking removal will begin shortly thereafter.

Any 42K or 32K walkers who cannot begin their second loop by 12 pm is asked to go through the finish and complete their walk, having achieved 21K.

All walkers must be off the trail by 4 pm.

Board shuttles at Columbia St. Convention Center Entrance to Hilton

Sunday: 

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 

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.

• Absolute Life Chiropractic
• Volksware
• OTSVA
• ESVA
• Walking Adventures
• Cascade Heart
• Gorge Delights
• Choices 2010
• Team in Training
• Reshaping Success
• SW Washington Medical Center
• Mickel Chiropractic
• New Balance
• Adventure Fitness LLC

Hours of Operation

• Friday, April 25 12pm - 9pm
• Saturday, April 26 9am - 4pm
• Sunday, April 27 9am - 4pm

As the discount registration period ended, we have 518 registrants.

We are pleased to welcome the following teams who registered 10 or more people:

• Azumano Travel - Portland, OR
  
• Ellie's Vets - Camas, WA
  
• Liberty Bible Ladies - Vancouver, WA
  
• Nippon Express - Japan
  
• Sheph's Shufflers - Grants Pass
  
• Sole Survivors - BC, Canada
  
• Sound Steppers - Edmonds, WA
• Tater Tours - Las Vegas, NV
  
• UL - Vancouver, WA
  
• Vancouver ECKANKAR - Vancouver, WA
  
• Pilot Rock - Pilot Rock, WA

Added 4/5/08

• Wilson Get Up & Goers
  
• 7 Hills-India
• Clark Regional Wastewater District

Added 4/20/08

• UP Army ROTC
• Chinese Evangelical Church of Vancouver, WA
• Cub Scout Pack 370
• Realvest
• Veolia Water (expected)
  
• Cascade Heart (expected)
• Total registrants: 740
  

Teams receive a Team Award plaque if they register as a team by April 1, or are among the first 33 teams to register as a team.

Teams also receive a discount - only $5 per person per event if they register 10 or more people.  This discount is valid through the pre-registration period and is available at the Group Registration Table during the event.  Teams must register together, but may walk, bike, or swim different days/distances.

Cascade Heart is an adult cardiology practice and has offices in two locations in Vancouver - Salmon Creek and in the Southwest Washington Medical Center complex off of Mill Plain.

• Comcast
  
• Radio Disney

We have 194 people already registered, for 504 events.

For those who want to keep their cost low now that we are into the discount price period through March 15 - remember, you can register at the group rate for only $5 per event.  You simply have to purchase 10 events or more at a time.  This is a great incentive to recruit your friends and family into coming along.  For groups of 10 or more who pre-register, you can receive a Team Award.   

For more information: Discount Group Registation

Registration

As a volunteer, non-profit organization, we face the same challenges that caused the VIWF to go inactive.  We need new, enthusiastic committee heads to put energy into our sponsor development, expo, entertainment, and volunteer recruitment.  We love and appreciate our hundreds of day-of-event volunteers, but need assistance year-round in planning a great event.