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The Long Distance Walkers Association (LDWA) is a British not for profit, volunteer-led association whose aim is "to further the common interests of those who enjoy Long Distance Walking" in rural, urban, mountainous, coastal and moorland areas. The LDWA is recognised as the
sports governing body A sports governing body is a sports organisation that has a regulatory or sanctioning function. Sports governing bodies come in various forms and have a variety of regulatory functions, including disciplinary action for rule infractions and dec ...
for the discipline of "long distance walking" in England, Wales and Scotland.


Activities

The LDWA has over 40 local groups, which organise challenge events and social walks. It publishes a journal, ''Strider,'' three times a year, and maintains a data base of long-distance paths, and registers of achievements in hillwalking and trail walking. Walks fall into two categories: #Social walks (also referred to as group walks) are normally led walks of anything up to 30 miles in length and recorded on the social walk database available to members. #Challenge events are normally between 20 and 100 miles, self-led (participants navigate the route based on written instructions, within a time limit). Challenge events are marshalled: participants must call in at clipper points or checkpoints to get a tally card punched to show they are following the route. The annual "Hundred" is the LDWA's flagship event and has been recognised as the longest-running 100-mile ultramarathon in the world, although it is not a race. It is held every year in a different part of the country, on the late May bank holiday, when up to 500 people gather to walk or run 100 miles in a maximum 48 hours. All participants will have completed a qualifying event of at least 50 miles. The first 100-mile event held was the Downsman 100 in 1973. There have been two years without a hundred-mile event: 2001, when foot and mouth closed the countryside, and 2020, when COVID-19 prevented the event taking place. COVID-19 also affected the 2021 event which was run as the Sir Fynwy virtual 100, with participants walking their own routes and providing evidence of completion. The 50th Hundred, the Elephant, Bear and Bull 100, took place in May 2023 and also marked the event's half-century. Three people completed the event at the age of 81, although all were slightly younger than Henry Bridge, who became the oldest-ever finisher in 1992, also aged 81. A documentary video series produced by the LDWA media team follows the personal stories of various participants navigating a largely off-road route taking in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
,
Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...
and
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
. In 2024 at the Speyside 100, Henry's record was broken by Jim Catchpole and Roger Osgood, both aged 82 completed the event. The LDWA has the most comprehensive online database of long-distance paths in the UK. Access is available to members and non-members alike, with members receiving additional benefits, for example unlimited downloadable GPX files of routes. The association also maintains a National Trails Register, with membership categories for people who report completion of five, 10, 15 or all 19 of the National Trails (in England and Wales) and Great Trails (in Scotland). It also maintains a Hillwalkers' Register, recording the names of people who have reached all the summits of various categories of hills in England, Wales and the Southern Uplands of Scotland. These include the Wainwright Hills in the Lake District, and the County Tops of England and Wales. Records for the Scottish Highlands are maintained by the
Scottish Mountaineering Club Established in 1889, the Scottish Mountaineering Club is a club for climbing and mountaineering in Scotland. History The Scottish Mountaineering Club (SMC) was formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in March 1889, as one of Scotland's first mountaineering ...
.


See also

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Hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...
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Walking in the United Kingdom Walking is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United Kingdom, and within England and Wales there is a comprehensive network of rights of way that permits access to the countryside. Furthermore, access to much uncultivat ...
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Long-distance trail A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...


References


External links

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''Strider''
the official publication of the LDWA {{Authority control Walking organisations in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1972 1972 establishments in the United Kingdom Long distance travel