Around 180 men and women, many of whom have been doing so for years, keep fit in one of the Akzent Forum’s 16 walking groups. The most active group meets every Tuesday morning in Rütihard near Münchenstein.
Just as it has done over the last few days, the thermometer will show another hot day today. But here in the woods, above the River Birs, it is still pleasantly cool at this early hour. A few cyclists are making their way up the long Mergelstrasse. It leads through the nature reserve with its patches of old-growth woodland and the Rothallenwald with its mighty beech trees, some over a hundred years old.
Training without ticks
Katrin Ackermann is the first to arrive at the meeting point. She has been leading the Nordic walking group since 2006 and is tirelessly dedicated to the weekly one-and-a-half-hour training session. So, in summer, she makes sure to choose only wide paths. In winter, once the risk of ticks has passed, they occasionally venture along narrow forest paths through the undergrowth. The group members appreciate the dedication of the sports instructor from Pro Senectute in both Basel cantons. In any case, later on, as I walk up the first section of Mergelstrasse alongside Ruedi Bolzli and Walter Bauer, I’ll hear nothing but praise for the training session and its leader.
