Summary: The Dover Public Library has come up with a fun and creative way to keep residents moving as the fall season begins.
Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never
sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea
From Bilbos Walking Song by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Dover Public Library invites residents of all ages to participate in the Fit for Fall Walking Challenge, Journey Through Middle Earth. The fitness challenge coincides with the soon-to-be released movie, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The challenge runs Sept. 1 until Dec. 1.
Walkers can travel the same distance as Bilbo, the title character and protagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel The Hobbit, will cross in the movie. Strategic points along the journey encourage participants to walk about an hour a day, more or less if they like, in order to complete the symbolic journey.
Other forms of activty and exercise count as well. If you are a server in a restaurant and you are on your feet walking all day, that counts. If you do house work, and who doesnt, that counts, said Kathryn Green, librarian. An hour of walking is equivalent to about an hour of yard work, housework or miniature golf. We want to inspire residents to stay active this fall and we hope with this, our first fall walking challenge, they will.
Green presented the idea of the Fit for Fall Walking Challenge after learning about The Walk to Rivendell and Beyond, an online fitness challenge that recreated the journey from Bag End in Hobbiton to Rivendell in another Tolkien tale, In the Fellowship of the Ring. I thought the idea that promoted a book and fitness fit with our mission here at the library, said Green. As a fan of the Tolkien books, I am always glad to see readers discover them for the first time.
While Hobbits are made of tougher stuff than men and women, and walking was all Bilbo did, all day, every day, busy individuals, parents, grandparents and kids can still accomplish the journey with a commitment to see it to the end. Our rules are very flexible, said Green. We want everyone to create a challenge that will work for their lifestyles.
Participants keep a log of time spent walking or exercising in 30-minute intervals. After the first five hours, walkers enter Beorns House. After 15 more hours, walkers enter Mirkwood. Along the journey walkers have the opportunity to win prizes once they cross the Enchanted River. After a fight with giant spiders, walkers meet the Wood Elves and earn a t-shirt. Walkers eventually reach Lake Town and then enter Smaugs Lair where they can enter to win tickets to the midnight premier of the movie on Dec. 13.
While the journey is symbolic, the walking and exercising is beneficial to participants of all ages and all skill levels. The program was designed with walkers keeping a pace of about three and half miles per hour, said Green. Some walkers may go faster and some may go slower. The idea is to keep moving and to stay fit.
To encourage walkers, the library will host a walking party the first Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. the first of which was Sept. 7. Upcoming parties are scheduled for Oct. 5, Nov. 2 and Dec. 7 and include a 30-minute walk around Dover and Hobbit-inspired snacks like seed cakes and apple tarts that will unlikely be made with lard-rendered pig fat as they would of in Bilbos day.
Dover Public Library is located at 525 N. Walnut St., Dover. For more information call Kathryn or Liz at 330-343-6123.
