That’s Susan Medlin on the far right unfurling the IML Walking flag to celebrate the Texas Trail Roundup’s acceptance into this elite walking group.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
San Antonio Walking Event Joins Elite International Group
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – May 2, 2019 – International Marching League (IML) officials in Blankenberge, Belgium, announced that the Texas Trail Roundup, an annual three-day walking event in San Antonio, officially joined the elite international group of 28 countries with similar walking events, promising to attract hundreds of international visitors to San Antonio.
The next Texas Trail Roundup will take place Feb. 21-23, 2020 at the Holiday Inn Downtown, 318 W. Cesar Chavez Blvd. Walk routes include downtown, the Riverwalk, Museum Reach, the Pearl and Brackenridge Park, and the World Heritage Missions. Route distances will range from five kilometers up to a full marathon (42 km) and two half marathons (21 km). The date is timed to coincide with the last weekend of the annual award-winning San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo.
This event is organized by a local walking club, the Texas Trail Roundup, and supported by other local clubs including the Randolph Roadrunners, Texas Wanderers, Selma Pathfinders, Lonestar Walkers, and the Texas Volkssport Association. All of these clubs are affiliated with the American Volkssport Association, also called AVA: America’s Walking Club, which is based in Universal City.
Walks held by these clubs are eligible for credit with the International Federation of Popular Sports (IVV). Members carry passport-like books and stamp them at walks in any of over 40 countries that belong to this federation. There are thousands of AVA walks that can be found in the United States, listed at www.ava.org.
In this week’s announcement from the 2019 IML General Meeting in Belgium, the Texas Trail Roundup joined an exclusive group known as the IML Walking Association. The TTR will be among 29 events certified by the IML, which has 28 member nations. Only one other U.S. event is currently certified: the USA Freedom Walk Festival in October in Arlington, VA.
“We worked hard over the last three years to join this international group. Many thanks to the hundreds of folks who worked and walked our event. Hope to see all of you walking with us.” said Susan Medlin, one of the main organizers of the TTR since its inception. She is also the Southwest Regional Director, serving the AVA clubs in Texas and New Mexico.
To become an IML event, TTR had to run for three years and pass high standards for route marking and checkpoints. It had to follow a specific scheduling format and include the half marathon events. In its pre-IML phase, the TTR has been a success, attracting hundreds of walkers from around Texas and the United States.
Contact: Susan Medlin, AVA: America’s Walking Club, 1001 Pat Booker Road, Suite 101, Universal City, TX 78148, 210-325-3523, sueammed@aol.com
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