The reasons for participating in Walk Wisconsin vary, from health reasons to family bonding to completing a bucket list, participants keep coming back every year.

“The stories that surround Walk Wisconsin are just so personal and very cool,” said Sara Brish, board member of Active Portage County. “There’s so many. There was a guy that came from Oregon and he wanted to walk 80 marathons before his 80th birthday and we were that 80th.”

Hearing these stories is the reason Active Portage County keeps putting on the walk, which has grown to be their biggest event.

“That’s what makes it special for all of us, it’s those stories that we hear when folks cross the finish line that really keep us energized and keep us planning these great events,” Brish said.

Walk Wisconsin will be held Saturday, June 4. Participants will meet at Pfiffner Pioneer Park a half-hour before their starting time for transportation to the start location. Starting times vary depending on the length of course chosen.

The full marathon will have a rolling start from 7 to 7:30 a.m. Transportation for the three-quarter marathon walk will go from 9:15 to 9:45. Transportation for the half-marathon will go from 11 to 11:30 a.m. Transportation for the quarter-marathon will be from 12:30 to 1 p.m. The finish line and entertainment will take place from 2 to 6 p.m. in the Pfiffner Pioneer Park Bandshell. Registration is $35.

The event also incorporates kids’ routes for those interested. Kids Walk Wisconsin will begin at 10 a.m. at Pfiffner Pioneer Park with 1.3-mile and 2.6-mile options. Registration is $5 per person or $10 per family.

This is a rain-or-shine event, so based on weather conditions, a rain poncho is encouraged but will not be provided.

Volunteers are still needed. If interested email Brish at [email protected] or visit volunteersrock.org for more volunteer opportunities.

Walk Wisconsin is a little different and may stand out in many participants’ minds because it is a noncompetitive hiking challenge, Brish said. Many walkers participate because they do not have to race, they get to enjoy the Green Circle Trail and walk at their own leisure.

“Love the scenery on the trail, sense of accomplishment, new tradition every June and being able to say I walked 26.2 miles,” one participant said after last year’s walk in the feedback form.

This event as well as Moon Walk Wisconsin, this year on Saturday, Oct. 15, encourages people to get out and be active during the winter months in order to prepare for the endurance needed to participate. Since the distance is so great, Active Portage County suggests beginning to train six months in advance.

“That’s really the whole drive for Active Portage County, to get people out training for those long-distance, endurance-type events,” Brish said.

Participant feedback is encouraged following the walk, and suggestions for improvement are taken into consideration. In fact, that is precisely how the Kids Walk came to being, she said.

Two years after Walk Wisconsin began, feedback showed that participants wanted a walk their kids could partake in that was stroller and pet friendly, and the Kids Walk Wisconsin, which runs in conjunction with Walk Wisconsin, was created. This year, there also will be a bounce house and raffle along with the food and refreshments.

Each Walk Wisconsin participant will receive a sports sack and T-shirt before the walk and a medallion upon completion. Participants may choose not to receive these, but registration costs will be the same.