Since 2015, the Russian Olympic Committee, together with the regional Olympic Councils, has been holding the All-Russian Walking Day as part of the International Walking Day, which is organized annually by The Association For International Sport for All (TAFISA).
The event is held to promote walking as the most natural and accessible form of physical activity, ideal for maintaining health and fitness, a sport that people can engage in at any age.
International Walking Day was first held in Russia in October 2014 during the opening of the forum ″Russia – the Sports Power″ in Cheboksary.
In October 2015 ROC, for the first time, became the organizer of the sports festival and organized the All-Russian Walking Day. In 2015 more than 370 thousand people from 41 constituent entities of the Russian Federation took part in the All-Russian Walking Day.
The concept of the All-Russian Walking Day in 2015 was: “We are walking and marching across the country” and it was intended to cover the maximum number of participants of various categories of citizens of the Russian Federation in a format acceptable in the traditions of the constituent entity, region, city, or municipality.
The event was successfully held throughout the Russian Federation from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Kaliningrad. During the day, 11 cities from each time zone of our large country took part in the marathon, and the participants of the event completed more than 2 million footsteps.
In 2016, more than 220 thousand participants took part in this All-Russian event from 47 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
Since 2017 ROC has provided financial support to regional Olympic Councils participating in Walking Day. These funds are used for organizing and holding events, as well as creating visual components and award merchandise (cups, prizes, banners, posters, diplomas, etc.).
In 2017 more than 260 thousand participants from 61 constituent entities of the Russian Federation took part in the All-Russian Walking Day. As part of organizing and holding Walking Day 2017, new elements were introduced – an electronic system for registering participants of the event and a raffle of valuable prizes was held for users of social networking platforms who participated in the Walking Day event.
