How do elite racewalkers get into the sport and what does their training look like?

good question. i've read an interview with some american kid who was pretty competitive but worthless on the international stage.

seems like something you could get pretty good at in a couple years, maybe make a world or oly team if you have the running talent.

I'd start by googling "race walking message board". People on here have no idea and will just make fun of race walking and race walkers on any thread dedicated to the subject.

ralphie wrote:

First, you work up the courage to tell your parents you're gay...

When did you decide to come out of the closet?

A guy who grew up neary is now a high-level racewalker. He was an ok middle-distance runner and a racewalk coach happened to live in the same town he did, so he started doing that in addition to 1500/3000. There is a high-level racewalk coach living in the province who scouted him at the highschool championships and they hooked up.

randomcoach wrote:

There is a high-level racewalk coach

Sorry, but this just made me laugh.

reed wrote:

good question. i've read an interview with some american kid who was pretty competitive but worthless on the international stage.

seems like something you could get pretty good at in a couple years, maybe make a world or oly team if you have the running talent.

Not sure about this. My friends always make fun of me whenever we have to walk anywhere because I'm always lagging behind. None of them run. They're like "aren't you a runner?" I struggle to walk any faster than like 20 minute mile pace. It's awful. Walking just feels so awkward. I'd rather jog somewhere nice and easy than try to walk fast, and when I'm running late for an appointment or trying to catch a bus I do just that.

So racewalking honestly impresses the hell out of me.

The only explanation why I think people can get into race walking:

- Fast Walk

- Easy Winnings at the local 5k

To win your local 5k, it would take the following:

15:30 Run on average

28:00 Walk on average

to be competitive on the world stage, the following is required:

13:10 (5k) Run (-2:30)

40:00 (10k) Walk (-8:00 to split for double the distance)

Also, is it ever a coincidence that Europe dominates Race Walking, yet, East Africa and the USA are the most dominant in distance running?

RunWild wrote:

Also, is it ever a coincidence that Europe dominates Race Walking, yet, East Africa and the USA are the most dominant in distance running?

I always figured it was cultural. Nowadays in the US it's really, really normal to go for a run, so if you're a really good runner and you're training all the time people might think you're kind of weird and obsessive, but other than that it's a pretty socially acceptable sport. If you're out there walking really, really fast all the time with that hip-wagging form racewalkers use, you're probably going to get some funny looks.

my coaches were both competitive race walkers back in the day, i think the one walked at the trials a couple times and the other was an Olympian. we also have a racewalker on the team who just competed in the 20k this morning at USA champs. they always talk about the technical aspect of it. form is so much more important in racewalking than in running. you can have lousy form (or at least less than perfect) and still be elite, whereas in the walk it's all about finding efficiency.

as far as the training goes, from what i can tell, it's not terribly different from a normal week of running. i think our athlete will walk about twice a week (usually long walks, 12 miles or so) and do a mix of running/walking workouts on the track. mile repeats, 600s, etc.

im not sure honestly how she got into the sport though. i feel like maybe if at a younger age you didnt have any speed but tons of endurance AND you happened to know a former racewalker or someone who could steer you into the sport then thats probably how you started off.

the sport is grueling though. it doesnt look it but the mental strain (and physical too) is enormous, especially for longer races like the 50k

Start here

http://www.racewalk.com/defaultRW.asp

I know one of the Wisconsin state school (DII or DIII) produces a lot of race walkers.

UW Parkside

Back when the USATF held junior elite training camps at Chula Vista, for the distance running camp they would bring in a race walk coach whose main spiel was that race walking was the easiest way for a good distance runner to make the Olympics. I notice that one of the women who just made the team for Moscow was at that camp.

Walkers get into the sport the same way as any other sport/event- you try it and find out if you have any talent for it. And almost always there is a walking coach who encourages the athlete to try it in the first place.

In New York in the late 70s and 80s, walking was a scoring event at every track meet, and a lot of future walking national team and Olympians came from NY in those years.

The training of a walker is very similar to the training of a runner- you walk lots of miles, long days, intervals on the track, tempo training, plus flexibility and strength training, and lots of work on technique.

Being talented at walking and running is not the same, but obviously there is some overlap. Walking is not easy at all- but there are fewer competitive walkers than competitive runners, so in that sense, there is less competition.

I have a friend that was a second tier D1 runner that was recruited by the race walking federation when he graduated, idk if there was anything particular that made them want him or if they just cast a huge net hoping to get a few to join

One of my buddies in college, a 13:53 guy, took a racewalking PE class. They had to race a 5k as their final. He said it was the hardest thing he'd ever done.

Carl Swift was a racewalker turned runner, who ran 2:19 for the marathon and quite a few fast races in Southern Californina in the 1970's.

Comparing Sports wrote:

One of my buddies in college, a 13:53 guy, took a racewalking PE class. They had to race a 5k as their final. He said it was the hardest thing he'd ever done.

Do you know how he did? A 20:28 gets you into US indoor nationals. I've always wondered how hard this is.

Here in Canada, competition is fiercehttp://liveresults.athletics.ca/Live_Results/2013/Senior_Championships/130620F323.htm

old walker wrote:

Walking is not easy at all- but there are fewer competitive walkers than competitive runners, so in that sense, there is less competition.

Yes, there are a lot of good walkers in Canada- but you are telling me that there are as many young talented athletes trying to make national teams in walking as there are in running?