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Americas Father of Nordic Walking Affirms Paternity

Although most Finns and other northern Europeans would have you believe that the 's8220;Nordic walking's8221; movement began in 1997 in Finland where Nordic skiing is a national passion, Nordic walking, or fitness walking with specially designed poles, was actually pioneered by an American (albeit of Nordic ancestry) right in the heart of North America.

According to Nordic walking historian and author of Nordic Walking Step by Step, David Downer, As a form of exercise in its own right and completely detached from skiing, hiking and trekking, the activity of fitness walking using specially designed poles was pioneered in the U.S. by cross-country skier and certified ski coach Tom Rutlin in 1985.'s8221; Downer finds it puzzling that Americans continue to give all the credit for being the originator of the activity to someone else other than one of their own. As Downer puts it, 's8220;It's8217;s seems a strangely un-American thing to do! Surely by now people must know that it is an American who got there first, a decade before the Finns. So why aren's8217;t you Americans out there fiercely defending and giving credit to one of your own's8221;

Part of the reason might be Rutlin's8217;s decidedly low key, altruistic approach to promoting the public health benefits of the activity, and his general penchant to avoid the spotlight. Although he has been on a mission to promote the health and fitness benefits of walking with specially designed poles for people of all ages and abilities for more than two decades, outside of those whose lives and health have been touched by his simple hybrid of fitness walking and Nordic skiing, Nordic walking has just begun to hit the radar screens of most Americans and the media.

In 1989, the German issue of Esquire magazine lauded Rutlin's8217;s version of Nordic walking as 's8220;the new green sport from the USA's8221;. In 2000 the editors of The Walking Magazine called Rutlin 's8220;A walking evangelist of the highest order's8221; who 's8220;spends more time teaching than selling.'s8221; Health guru Dr. Andrew Weil has called Rutlin a national fitness authority who has 's8220;made it his mission to make walking the most efficient workout possible.'s8221; Downer praises Rutlin as 's8220;a true Ambassador for Nordic Walking. He is a man of integrity who always puts Nordic Walking and the furthering of the Nordic Walking movement ahead of his own commercial gain.'s8221;

Using a promotional approach far more akin to Johnny Appleseed's8217;s than Billy Mays's8217;, Rutlin has been quietly planting the seeds of Nordic walking across the U.S. for more than two decades. After being gradually lured into the spotlight over the years by Prevention and Walking Magazines, The Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research, the International Council of Active Aging and a growing number of American and European Nordic walking advocates, Rutlin is stepping up his efforts to promote (and finally claim his paternity of) Nordic walking.

's8220;We have a burgeoning public health crisis in America, one important root cause of which is the sedentary ways of millions of Americans who have been made 's8216;exercise-phobic's8221; the face of predominantly no pain, no gain exercise prescriptions's8221; according to Rutlin. 's8220;Yet all one really has to do to get fit for living and stay fit for life is put their entire body to good use regularly 's8211; and Nordic walking is the single best way for people of all ages and abilities to do just that.'s8221;

Rutlin will be conducting an instructor training event in Manhattan Beach, CA from June 28-29, and then join other leading figures in the American Nordic walking movement for the largest Nordic walking event to date in North America on June 30. That free public event on the beach in Santa Monica, California will feature Rutlin and others who will offer free Nordic walking instruction as well as related lectures to the public.

On June 1, Rutlin will then be a featured presenter at the Aging Services of Arizona's8217;s 26th Annual Conference in Scottsdale Arizona, and on June 13th he will again be offering free Nordic walking instruction to the public at the Gathering Waters Festival at Lakeshore Park in Milwaukee, WI.

For more information on Rutlin's8217;s efforts to spread the word of his non-threatening and simple 's8220;good use total body exercise's8221; and health message, go to www.nordicwalking.us.

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