If you love a good hike in the woods, you'll soon have a chance to test your endurance on the trail.
Mammoth March is coming to Missouri wine country this September 10th.
It's a 20 mile, day-long hike that starts in Defiance. It's one of a series of US hikes organized by Mammoth March founder Michael Mitreuter.
Mitreuter brought the idea of hiking course from Europe and his native Germany. He tells KMOX's Total Information AM, it's for people looking for an organized challenge, "if you want to talk about having a long-distance, beginner-friendly event, this would be it, and it has everything and not too much incline. I think it's perfect for people it, a distance, and see what it's like."
The final course will be based on conditions and weather, but Mitreuter says plans call for it to travel from the Defiance Vineyards, through the Weldon Spring Conservation area, Katy trail, and the Lewis and Clark Trail. It will include dedicated trails, with gravel, forest floor, and some pavement.
The Mammoth March website offers tips for training. Mitreuter says you don't have to do a 20 mile hike to prepare, but should try to build mileage onto your existing hiking regimen to train. Other advice he would offer the day of the event: "The hardest I think is, if you take a break, to get going again. So ideally what I suggest is, if you take a break, and we offer several aid stations.. ...I recommend not to sit down. My personal experience was, once you sat down, it's really hard to get going."
The event is not timed. It's planned as an 8-hour hike, but Mitreuter says if it takes participants longer, they still are considered a success.
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