About Us
Menehune Marchers - AVA Club #456
Aloha and welcome to Menehune Marchers! We are Hawaii's walking club. We are young and we are old. We love exploring our beautiful Hawaii. We visit landscapes, monuments, trails, beaches, museums, parks, gardens, backyards, and art exhibits. We delight in the company of old and new friends. We love walking, and we'd love to walk with you!
Menehune Marchers officially became a member of the American Volkssport Association on July 22, 1987. Our first sanctioned club event was on September 13, 1987 at the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens. Our club is very fortunate to have a core of volunteers and dedicated members who keep the torch of volkssporting burning bright throughout Hawaii!
American Volkssport Association
The American Volkssport Association (AVA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes fun, fitness and friendship through volksmarching (walking). The Menehune Marchers Volkssport Club is one of the 300 clubs in the United States affiliated with the AVA.
Visit the AVA website for more information.
What is Volkssporting?
Volkssporting combines physical fitness, fellowship, and the chance to experience many different scenic and cultural areas, all together in one “people’s sport.” A volkssporting event is an organized walk, bike, swim, skate, or cross-country ski designed to appeal to everyone. Events are non-competitive, and participants exercise at their own pace. The American Volkssport Association (AVA) governs this sport in the United States. Most volkssporting events are walks (volksmarches) that are usually 5 or 10 kilometers long (3.1 or 6.2 miles) through scenic areas or cultural locations in all 50 states of the United States of America, and in 29 countries. Bike events are 25 kilometers or longer, while ski events are 10 or more kilometers. All events are organized by one of the over 300 local clubs in the United States--with hundreds more around the world.
There are two kinds of events. “Special events” are held on one or two specific days when a number of volkssporters gather to do the event at the same time. Also in the United States, there are about 2,000 “year-round-events” (YRE), which are trails established by local clubs for all to enjoy at their own leisure. Participants can learn about special events and year-round events on the AVA and club websites (www.ava.org).
Many volkssporters maintain record books collecting "credit" for events and distances walked. There is a nominal charge for buying books and stamping books for credit. Volksmarchers who are not walking for credit may walk for free. More information is available on the AVA web site.