     The 3rd annual Northwest Nebraska Volksmarch is this Saturday at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.
There are options for 5K (3.1-miles) or 10K (6.2-miles) walks with a $4 registration fee, mostly to cover the costs of insurance.
  Pre-registration is not required, but the option is available. There’s a link at the discovernwnebraska.com.
 Registration can be done Saturday morning at the check-in table at the Agate Visitors Center. All participants must check in between 8:00 and 11:00 and be back by 2:00.Â
Volksmarch is a non-competitive form of fitness walks that became popular in Europe in the 1960s. The first Northwest Nebraska Volksmarch was held at Chadron State College with last year’s at Chadron State Park.
This is the first year the Northwest Nebraska Trails Association is formally a member of the American Volkssport Association and can sanction the event itself. They’ve worked with an Omaha group to put on first 2 Northwest Nebraska Volksmarches
      Rempp, who is also the volksmarch manager for the NNTA, says while the annual Volksmarch is a great way to publicize the trails in Northwestern Nebraska, being sanctioned allows NNTA to offer multiple individual versions in the region.Â
Saturday’s course at Agate Fossil Beds is designated as a seasonal volksmarch that individuals or small group can take through the summer while the original Chadron State College campus volksmarch route and the White River Trail between the Crawford City Park and Fort Robinson State Park are year-round volksmarches.
    Walkers can complete the walks and get their stamps through an online process at ava.org or by stopping at the Chadron Chamber of Commerce and asking for the volksmarch start box.