Walk This May returns
The Walk This May Challenge is back in Worcestershire and Herefordshire, inviting people of all ages and abilities to step outside, get active and connect with their communities. (kidderminstershuttle.co.uk) Local organizers are pitching accessibility over competition, so it’s a low‑barrier way to add consistent daily movement this spring. (droitwichstandard.co.uk)
A walking challenge in two English counties is coming back with a target that sounds small until you scale it up: residents in Herefordshire and Worcestershire are being asked to collectively walk a 53-mile border again and again from May 1 to May 14, 2026. Last year’s total reached 4,723.18 miles, which organizers say is the same as covering that border 89 times. (herefordshire.gov.uk) This is not a race with entry fees, timing chips, or long routes that shut beginners out. The walks are free, guided, and built around easy ground and a relaxed pace, with sessions lasting from 10 minutes to 90 minutes. (bromsgrovestandard.co.uk) The organizers are Active Herefordshire and Worcestershire, Herefordshire Council, and Worcestershire County Council, which means the challenge is being run through local public-health and community-sport networks rather than a private event company. Their pitch is simple: get people outdoors, moving, and talking to each other without making fitness the barrier to entry. (worcestershire.gov.uk) The geography is part of the hook. Herefordshire sits to the west of Worcestershire, and the 53-mile county border gives the challenge a shared scoreboard that people in both places can picture without needing to count their own laps around a park. (herefordshire.gov.uk) The format also solves a practical problem that kills a lot of spring fitness campaigns: getting there. Organizers say the routes across both counties are reachable on foot or by public transport, which makes the challenge easier to join for people who do not drive and for older residents who want a shorter local walk. (bromsgrovestandard.co.uk) This year’s version is also a sequel to a larger-than-expected first run. Reporting on the 2025 event said hundreds of walkers took part over two weeks, and the final mileage beat the original border-length idea by a wide margin. (rossgazette.com) That helps explain why local papers in Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, and elsewhere are treating the return as more than a diary item. What started in 2025 as a National Walking Month push tied to Wellbeing Walks in Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health Walks is now being presented as an annual county-to-county challenge with a proven turnout. (worcestershire.gov.uk) (herefordtimes.com) The new ask is not “walk 53 miles by yourself.” The ask is to join one of the local walks between May 1 and May 14 and add your distance to a collective total, whether that is a 10-minute stroll or a 90-minute session. (herefordshire.gov.uk) Stephen Brewster, the chief executive of Active Herefordshire and Worcestershire, is framing 2026 as an attempt to beat last year’s 4,700-mile mark rather than defend a title. That keeps the event pointed at repeat participation and community turnout, not at crowning the fittest walkers in the room. (herefordshire.gov.uk)
