WOW! Where has the time gone? In 2017 I made a massive career change and trained to become a Nordic Walking Instructor, a world away from my ‘work from home life’ in the greeting card industry, which I had done for over 20 years. I have not looked back since! forward is always good, especially when you’re Nordic Walking! We may have a slight ‘detour’ here and there, but no path is permanently set in stone and life is for ‘Adventures’!

Over the last four years, I have met, and trained to Nordic Walk, some truly amazing, inspiring and very lovely people. Our growing group of nordic walkers has become a ‘facilitator of friendships’ (A lovely phrase I heard the other day, and thought how true). I, myself, and I know many of our walkers, have made truly long lasting friendships with folks that we may never have met in our day to day lives. Nordic Walking really does bring people together, you all start with at least one common interest – Walking – and usually a love of the outdoors. Variety in life is a positive thing and the chance to meet people from all sorts of walks of life is a privilege and should help us all to grow and develop.

We have come thru two years of Covid restrictions, a difficult time for us all in soo many ways! Working from home is not the best option for all of us. Hands up anyone who had heard of ZOOM 2 years ago? But, we evolved and made changes (I even sewed face masks) we had Zoom Coffee Mornings, offered online exercise classes, had a Zoom ‘Bake Off’ day, we learnt Origami (Thankyou Andrew!) and I lost count of the amount of Pom Poms we made for our Christmas and Easter trees in the woods! It was soo lovely to be able to still see and hear from you all in your Purple T’shirts! When we were finally allowed back outside to see folks again, we offered One to One Nordic Walks, then small group walks where we encouraged walkers to remain ‘Poles Apart’ from each other.

Our MK NORDIC team has grown to include my four fabulous Walk Leaders: Alison, Ian, Pete & Ursula and new Instructor Rachel who will be bringing Nordic Walking to the Sandy area of Bedfordshire. We’re working together to introduce ‘IVEL VALLEY NORDIC WALKING’ to the world, please LIKE & FOLLOW on FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM @nordicwalkingivelvalley and help spread the love of Nordic Walking across the counties.

Some of us have developed a love of taking on a Challenge! It started with the 10 Mile ‘Midnight Moo’ for Willen Hospice. I then set myself an extra challenge of Nordic Walking 100km in a week! the usual is around 70km. I’m proud to say we’ve raised over £2,000 for Willen Hospice over the years, offering some support for the amazing. caring service that the Hospice offers to soo many local families in times of real need.

Other Challenges include a 10km ‘Race for Life’, the St Albans Half Marathon, various ‘Ultra Challenges’ 25km+ Walks in London, Windsor, the Cotswolds as well as the ‘undulating’ Jurassic coast in Dorset. Our Walk Leader Pete has a love of the Purbeck area of Dorset and I don’t think there’s much of it he hasn’t walked, he’s completed 34km and full marathon routes from Corfe Castle to Weymouth! Our newest Walk Leader Ian and I completed the 25km circular route in 2022, from Corfe, over to Swanage, along The Priests Way before finishing to the west of Corfe at Church Knowle – a route I will be repeating again in 2023 while the lads take on longer distances! Who will join me? Ian should be called our ‘Challenge Finder’, he has taken part in soo many local events as well at the Ultras, since joining us in 2021. We’ll be joining him in 2023 and spreading the joy of ‘The MK Nordic Purple Team’ far and wide! The Milton Keynes ‘Twin Lakes’ and ‘MK24’ are on the list already for 2023.

‘Challenges’ are not for everyone and we completely respect that! In October 2022 we joined the Willen ‘Park Walk‘, a 5km on a Saturday morning that ALL of our walkers can achieve in whatever time they want. ‘Park Run’ organisers decided to actively encourage ‘Walkers’ to join them on a Saturday morning, so, we checked they were happy for us to Nordic and they welcomed us with open arms! It has been such an inclusive event for ALL our walkers! Gentle walkers have completed in 60 minutes, Workout walkers have achieved 41 minutes and all the ones in-between. We’ll always wait to see ALL the Purple ones over the line – Team Purple!

As well as our weekly timetable of regular walks (Gentle, Adventure and Workout levels) available 7 days a week, including some evenings, we sometimes like to venture further afield, explore new routes, pack a picnic or take in a pub lunch or a slice of Cake or two! Look out for our ‘Specials’, ‘Mini Break Walking Holidays’ and Walking Festivals.

So, if you’re not already a Nordic Walker, scroll up and click ‘Join Milton Keynes Nordic Walking‘, complete a 90 minute POWER OF POLES Intro session to learn the basics of Nordic Walking as well as advice on the right walking poles for you, before you come and join our regular walks. Remember to OPT IN to our weekly newsletter too for all the latest news and kit advice.

If you ARE already a Nordic Walker – tell your friends, shout from the rooftops, forward the newsletter, get involved and BOOK A NORDIC WALK.

Look forward to seeing you soon!

Emma