Long Distance Walkers Association

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The LDWA has over 40 local groups,{{cite web |url=https://ldwa.org.uk/clubs/clubs.php |title=LDWA Local Groups | website=ldwa.org.uk |publisher=Long Distance Walkers Association |access-date=2021-09-24}} which organise challenge events and social walks. It publishes a journal, Strider, three times a year,{{Cite web|title=LDWA Publications|url=https://ldwa.org.uk/publications.php|access-date=2021-09-21|website=ldwa.org.uk|publisher=Long Distance Walkers Association}} and maintains a data base of long-distance paths, and registers of achievements in hillwalking and trail walking.

Walks fall into two categories:

1. 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.
2. 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.{{Cite web|title=LDWA Challenge Events|url=https://ldwa.org.uk/challenge_events/events.php|access-date=2021-09-21|website=ldwa.org.uk|publisher=Long Distance Walkers Association}}

The annual "Hundred" {{Cite web|title=Annual 100 mile Challenge|url=https://ldwa.org.uk/hundreds/hundred.php|access-date=21 September 2021|website=ldwa.org.uk|publisher=Long Distance Walkers Association}} is the LDWA's flagship event and has been recognised as the longest-running 100-mile ultramarathon in the world,{{Cite web |date=2023-11-30 |title=The Early LDWA Trail 100-milers held in England 1973-1979 |url=https://ultrarunninghistory.com/ldwa-100-milers/ |access-date=2024-04-01 |language=en-US}} 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. {{cite web |url=https://ldwa.org.uk/2021Hundred |title=Y 100 Sir Fynwy - 29th to 31st May 2021 |publisher=Long Distance Walkers Association |website=ldwa.org.uk |access-date=2021-09-25}} 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, Stratford-upon-Avon and Coventry.{{Cite web |title=5000 Miles {{!}} The LDWA's 50th Hundred - YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzKqxzM4YdMjudVaEiEciTUb5fn3-eMCW |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=www.youtube.com}} 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.{{Cite web|title=A list of the long-distance walks in the UK|url=https://www.cicerone.co.uk/a-list-of-the-long-distance-walks-in-the-uk-2|access-date=2021-09-23 |first=Lesley |last=Williams |date=2020-10-24 |website=cicerone.co.uk |publisher=Cicerone Press}} Access is available to members and non-members alike, with members receiving additional benefits, for example unlimited downloadable GPX files of routes.{{Cite web|title=Long Distance Paths|url=https://ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/search_by_path.php|access-date=2021-09-21|website=ldwa.org.uk|publisher=Long Distance Walkers Association}}

The association also maintains a National Trails Register,{{Cite web |last=www.jameskirby.me.uk |first=MKH Computer Services Ltd-www mkh-computer-services co uk / James Kirby- |title=Long Distance Walkers Association |url=https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=www.ldwa.org.uk |language=en-GB}} 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).{{Cite web |last=www.jameskirby.me.uk |first=MKH Computer Services Ltd-www mkh-computer-services co uk / James Kirby- |title=Long Distance Walkers Association |url=https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ |access-date=2024-04-01 |website=www.ldwa.org.uk |language=en-GB}} It also maintains a Hillwalkers' Register,{{Cite web |last=www.jameskirby.me.uk |first=MKH Computer Services Ltd-www mkh-computer-services co uk / James Kirby- |title=Long Distance Walkers Association |url=https://www.ldwa.org.uk/ |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=www.ldwa.org.uk |language=en-GB}} 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.

• Hiking
• Walking in the United Kingdom
• Long-distance trail

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{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://www.ldwa.org.uk/publications.php Strider], the official publication of the LDWA

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Category:Walking organisations in the United Kingdom

Category:Organizations established in 1972

Category:1972 establishments in the United Kingdom

Category:Long distance travel

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