TAFISA World Walking Day in Poland
The weekend of October 2-3, 2010, provided fans of walking with numerous opportunities to enjoy their hobby. On that weekend, chosen by TAFISA for the celebration of the World Walking Day, walking events took place in more than 30 places all over Poland. They were organized thanks to funding from the programme of promotion of physical culture and sport, implemented by the Department of Sports for All.
The National Opening of the TAFISA World Walking Day took place on Saturday, October 2nd 2010, in Olsztyn near Częstochowa, in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland region. It had been prepared by the Board of the Physical Culture Promotion Society (TKKF), in cooperation with the Voivode and Marshal of Śląskie Voivodeship and with the hosts – Olsztyn Municipality. One of the guests was Irena Szewińska, winner of seven Olympic medals and member of the governing bodies of the International Olympic Committee and Polish Olympic Committee.
Three walking routes were available: 9 km , 5 km and 3 km around the ruins of the castle, the Kielniki quarry and in the Sokole Góry Reserve. Bouts of medieval knights from the Dwugryf Knight Brotherhood from Częstochowa were an additional attraction during the celebrations.
Similar events prepared by TKKF took place all over Poland. The largest events, in terms of the number of participants, were held in Łomża, Kolno, Sieraków Wlkp., Wrocław, Toruń, Chełmno, Zielona Góra, Łódź, Sierpiec, Bielsko- Biała, Kielce, Poznań, Szczecin, Cracow, Opole and Rzeszów.
World Walking Day in Warsaw was very spectacular. A walking event ‘I walk and I support’, organized under the auspices of the Minister of Sport and Tourism, took place simultaneously with Poland’s largest running event ‘Run, Warsaw, run’. Two colourful processions, moving in opposite directions, comprising about 2.5 thousand walkers in blue shirts, walking a distance of 5 km and about 9 thousand runners in green shirts, running a distance of 10 km, met en route in the streets of central Warsaw. The walkers were led by Robert Korzeniowski, winner of numerous world championship medals and of four gold Olympics medals in walking, and by the current vice-champion of Europe in 50 km walking, Grzegorz Sudoł. Numerous employees of the Ministry of Sport with their families participated in the Warsaw event, including several directors of departments.
In total, about 35 thousand Poles participated in World Walking Day in Poland.