Tacoma, WA – Put on your walking shoes and get ready to explore downtown Tacoma on foot through Downtown On the Go’s Walk Tacoma series. This year the series will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary with favorite walk events from the past nine years, including the Walk Tacoma Kick-Off in Wright Park.
The kick-off on National Walking Day (Wednesday, April 3, 2019) from 12 -1 p.m. is in collaboration with the American Heart Association. The 1.5-mile walk will be led by historians Melissa McGinnis and Former Mayor Bill Baarsma, highlighting two of Tacoma’s gems: Wright Park and Stadium High School. The free walk, sponsored by Metro Parks Tacoma, will start and end at the lion sculptures at the south end of Wright Park. Registration and check-in will be open from 11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
The Walk Tacoma series started before Downtown On the Go was a formal organization and has grown tremendously in the past ten years, with participation now over 1,000 each year. Back in 2009, Julia Petersen who was program manager at the time, saw a need for walk promotion and safety in downtown, and started the Walk Tacoma program. Petersen said, “Walk Tacoma began as a true collaboration between the City of Tacoma, Pierce Transit and the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, and has grown beyond expectations. It’s a project that demonstrates that when you have collaborators who believe in their city, strong leaders to carry the program, and community members who care about their downtown, the potential for the program and the place are endless. Congratulations on 10 years, Walk Tacoma!”
Participants can save time by registering online for the entire series at www.downtownonthego.com. The first 100 people to register online and check in at the Kick-Off will receive a Walk Tacoma 10-year anniversary t-shirt, and the first 300 participants to check in or register will receive a swag bag.
The Walk Tacoma series, sponsored by the Puyallup Watershed Initiative Active Transportation Community of Interest, is a six-event walking series held on the first Wednesday of the month, from April through August.
All Walk Tacoma events are accessible for wheel chairs and strollers and are 1 – 2 miles in length. All walks include activities for children provided by the Children’s Museum of Tacoma, and, new this year, American Sign Language interpretation.
For more information on the full Walk Tacoma Series visit www.downtownonthego.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.