Discovery Walk Festival Blog

The Discovery Walk Festival has its registration, packet-pickup, start and finish inside the Discovery Ballroom of the Vancouver Hilton Hotel, 301 West 6th Street, Vancouver Washington, USA 98660.

All of the walks and (bikes on Sunday) start from right inside the Hilton, and that is where you will also finish.  The swims on Sunday will take place at Propstra Aquatic Center, but you will register at the Hilton and we provide a shuttle to and from the pool.

YOU CAN REGISTER AT THE EVENT
Registration is open on Friday from 2 pm – 6 pm.
Saturday 6:30 am – 12 pm.
Sunday 7:30 am – 12 pm.
Registration, start and finish are all in the Discovery Ballroom, Vancouver Hilton Hotel.

Schedule of events:

Friday, April 23
Mayor’s Friendship Walk presented by Cascade Heart
Easy 6K/10K Walk through the Historic Reserve.
• Registration open 2PM – 6PM
• Opening Ceremony 3:45PM
• Walk Start Times: 6K and 10K start 4PM – 6P
• Finish by 9PM

Saturday, April 24
Lewis and Clark Walk
Choose your walking distance – Marathon 42K, 21K, 10K or 5K.
The marathon route will be twice-around the 21K route.
Trail rated 2 with some hills.
• Registration open 6:30AM – 12PM
• Walk Start Times:
* 42K: 7AM – note the single start time.  Must start second 21K loop by 11 am or you will be limited to completing only an additional 10K if able to start by 12 pm.
* 21K: 7-9AM
* 5K/10K: 8AM-12PM
* Family Fun Walk 5K: 10AM
• Finish by 4PM
For fun, food, and local entertainment, enjoy the Vancouver Farmers Market right next door.  We hope you pause or return to enjoy the food and entertainment.
Vancouver Farmers Market: Food, produce and crafts open 9 am – 4 pm Saturday and 10 am – 4 pm Sunday.

Sunday, April 25
Lt. Broughton Walk, Swims & Bikes presented by Veolia Water
Choose your distance: 22K, 10K or 5K walk, 15K/25K/50K Bike,
300 meter/600 meter Swim.
• Registration open 7:30AM – 12PM.
• Walk Start times: 22K: 8-9AM – 5K/10K 8AM – 12PM
• Bike Start times: 9AM – 12PM
• Swims start 1:30PM-3:45PM with shuttle provided from and back to the Hilton.
• Closing Ceremony and IML Walking Association awards 3PM
• Finish by 4PM

We had a big work party on Saturday to assemble the start cards for the pre-registered walkers and to put the 2010 ribbons on the Saturday/Sunday walk medals.   With 16 people, that took us two hours to complete.

We are keeping online registration open as long as is convenient for our registrar, at least through midnight tonight (April 20).

If you find the online registration closed, you can register at the event for the same price.  Just come in, fill out a start card, and pay at the Registration Table. We have a long start window for all events (other than the single start time for the marathon distance), so if you arrive a little after the first starting time you shouldn’t encounter any delay.  And then you’ll be able to get started immediately.

We prefer that you pay with cash.  That also saves time at registration and saves fees.  We do take Visa and MasterCharge, but you may experience a delay when paying by card rather than cash, as we only have one card station.

We don’t have “goodie bags” for our participants.  We ended that practice a couple of years ago when we noted how much goes to waste.  Rather than contributing to trash, we will have brochures for other events out on on Info Table and we will hand out any extras we get from sponsors either along the trail or at the Finish.  That way, you aren’t getting something you don’t really want that will end up in the trash or recycling bin.

The deadline has passed for mail-in registrations.  We welcome online registrations through Friday, April 16.  After that point, we prefer that people come and register live at the event.

Everyone is welcome to register at the event.  Registration has not been congested the past three years, so you really don’t have to fear long lines.   In fact, on Friday and Saturday we probably have a longer line for picking up your pre-registration start cards.

We also still take team registrations through the event, at the team rate price.  A team is 10 or more people.  To get the team rate at the event, either the team must all register together or a representative must pay for 10 entries and then the team members can come pick them up at the Team Registration table at their convenience.

We welcome teams from:

Cascade Heart

Veolia Water

Primorsky Walking League Zhenshen (Russia)

Sole Survivors (Canada)

790th Chemical Company

Daimler

Gardner School

Going Lean

Liberty Bible Church

Troop 40394

Weight Watchers

WOW Walking Club

The major sponsors of the 2010 Discovery Walk Festival are:

Cascade Heart presents the Mayor’s Friendship Walk

Veolia Water presents the Lt. Broughton Walk

We also thank Umpqua Bank for its support of the swim, and Walking.about.com for sponsoring the award for the Mayor’s Walk.

We will have Aquaclips to give away and will have a presence by Reebok to promote their new fitness shoes.

The deadline for the discount registration ended at midnight March 1, so now on March 2 we are in the regular registration rate period through the day of event ($10 per event per person).  You can still register online or by mail through April 15.  After April 15, please come register live at the event.

The team discount still applies through day of event.  Form a team of 10 or more people and the rate is only $5 per event.  To register as a team, you can simply register online and select the Team rate per event and place your team name in the appropriate box on the second screen.  Our registrar will know to group you together.  If you don’t end up with 10 people, there will be a surcharge at the event.  You can do the same thing if registering by mail, although it would be most convenient for all registrations to be mailed together.

Live at the event, you can add team members by having them come to the Group Registration Table and identify themselves as part of your team.

Discovery Walk Festival volunteers are part of the Discovery Walk Team and they may also register at the Team Rate.  Please identify yourself as part of the Discovery Walk Team on your registration form to claim this rate.  Volunteers will work a shift of at least four hours during the festival.

Registration form

We have completed entry for the registrations received through 2-21-10 and sent out email confirmations.  For those who didn’t give us an email address, the confirmations will be mailed in March.

You can search and view registrations online to check your days/distance registered.

We also have a group coming from Russia whose data isn’t entered yet, the Primorsky Walking League Zhenshen.

We have updated the list of volkssport state and national programs/challenges for each day, distance and route.

Because of the large number and inconsistent operation of special programs offered by the AVA and various clubs, this walk’s organizers cannot be sure
for which programs these walks might qualify.  Because the satisfaction of walkers is our foremost desire, we will stamp any special program book
that a walker feels is appropriate for this event.

The walkers themselves are responsible for ensuring that the listed items actually meet the criteria of the program.

Our event organizers do not participate in any of these challenge programs and do not possess the record books.  The listed items are only our best guess.

We design our routes for scenic interest, safety, checkpoint locations, and logical layouts for ease of marking and eliminating confusion during a three-day event.  We do not design them to fulfill any programs or challenges other than IVV and IML Walking Association requirements.

Only after the trails are completed do we then check for items that might fulfill one or more of the THIRTY-SEVEN different state, national, and club challenge programs.  This is an enormous effort.  We feel we have done enough now and the rest is on you to be responsible for your own challenge book requirements.

No routes will be modified to pass by something that fulfills a challenge requirement.

We are not responsible for providing you accurate information, this is just our best guess.  It is your responsibility to ensure that the listed items actually meet the program requirements.

Due to the unfortunate closing of the Hough Pool, the Discovery Walk swims will move to the Propstra Acquatic Center, 605 N. Devine, Vancouver, WA 98661.  This pool is about 4.5 miles from the Hilton.  We will continue to provide a free van shuttle to and from the swim from the Hilton.  The pool is 4 ft. deep throughout.  Showers and changing rooms are available.

Our trailmasters Burt Paynter and Heidi Schurr have been hard at work drafting the new routes for Saturday and Sunday.  While routes are always subject to change, we have posted overview maps of each day.  These maps are not meant for navigation.  On the day of the event, a detailed map specific to your route distance will be given to you at the start table, and the route will be marked with arrows as well.  These maps are simply to give you a general idea of the routes.

Saturday Walks: New routes for the 10K and 21K.  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 start with the 21K route and return over the Land Bridge to meet up with 5K route.

The 21K route will take walkers east on Evergreen and over the hill to the Burnt Bridge Creek Greenway. Then back over the hill and down to the river to finish for the last 8K along the Columbia River.  Those doing 42K will repeat the 21K route, starting their second loop by 11 am to ensure they are able to complete it by 4 pm.  If they complete the first 21K by 12 pm, they can start on the 10K route and complete 32K instead.  This 32K option is available for anyone who can start the last 10K by 12 pm.

Saturday Overview Map: this map is only an overview and not intended for navigation.  You will receive a detailed map and directions at the start table when you start your walk. Routes are subject to change.

Sunday Walks: New routes for all distances. The 21K will be similar to the Saturday 21K from 2009, including the Burnt Bridge Creek Greenway from Stewart Glen Park to Devine Road and returning past Clark College.  The 10K and 5K will explore the Hough, Carter Park and Lincoln neighborhoods and by the fun shops of Uptown Main Street.

Sunday Overview Map: this map is only an overview and not intended for navigation.  You will receive a detailed map and directions at the start table when you start your walk.  Routes are subject to change.

Calling all Discovery Walk Festival volunteers!  Volunteer registration is now open for the 2010 Discovery Walk Festival.  See the form at: Volunteer Page.  We have set the workers walk dates.  Volunteers are eligible to register for the event at the Team/Group rate of $5 per walk, bike, or swim.