WITH the practiced ease of a regular Nordic walker and the stamina of a lifetime athlete, Ildiko Strehli practically glides down the trail here at Lake Anna State Park.

The acorn-littered path may rise and fall. But Strehli and a small band of walkers--matching strides with pushes of what look like ski poles--amble on, sweat starting to cover their arms and foreheads.

"Not everyone knows about Nordic walking, but it's really just a simple way to get more out of walking, at the same time saving stress on your joints," said Strehli, a 45-year-old Louisa County resident who brought the workout-sport to the park. "It's like cross-country skiing, without the skis."

That's all well and good, but just how did this member of the history-making Hungarian women's bobsled team at the 2002 Winter Olympics end up with pole-toting walkers in the woods at this park in Spotsylvania County?

Cathy Corker, head of interpretive programming at the park on Lake Anna, said it all started when Strehli, an adjunct physical education professor at the Northern Virginia Community College in Manassas, got in touch to plan a canoe and orienteering trip.

She and the students loved the park and all it had to offer.

"One thing led to another, and as we talked she shared thoughts on the Nordic walking she teaches at the community college and elsewhere," Corker said.

A presentation Strehli did for the Friends of Lake Anna on Nordic walking--a simple twist on walking where participants use the specially designed exercise poles to help propel and support themselves--led to a few one-day programs at the park earlier this year.

"It went over so well, we tried to keep the momentum going by offering Nordic walking as a once-a-week activity for eight weeks this fall," Corker said.

The program wraps up in early November. But Corker said she hopes it can be continued in the spring. The park staff is looking at the possibility of setting up a Nordic walking self-guided tour on one of the park trails, possibly with exercise stations at intervals.

It would be easy to focus this whole column on Strehli's athletic accomplishments.