I was permanently injured at age 20 and never able to run again. But after a year or two I was able to walk pretty normally. At a ten-mile race that my clubmates were running, I spectated by starting to walk the course before the race began. Cheered on my mates as they passed me, and found that I had walked the course in 1:5x.
Shortly thereafter NYS started the Empire State Games, and one of the events was 50kmRW. Free uniform/sweats, and free food/lodging for the better part of a week? I'm there!
So I got into it because I wanted to race but knew I'd never run again.
This impressed me.
As someone who walked a 5:40 full marathon (just below 5:41) with a 2:29 something split in the first half...yes 11:23 per mile... not only did I get a time I didn't expect in the first half...I know I did it by walking...so your sub 2, which is 11:54 per mile...is very good. You should be proud and you make a case for actual racewalking as a sport very compelling.
Philip Dunn passed me in a running race while he racewalked years ago... knowing what creeping and lifting is, I can tell you he was doing neither.
The problem today is that the best racewalking medalists both creep and lift more than the three total violations allowed before a disqualification.
I have walked a hand timed 9:56 mile (with a flip phone stopwatch in hand)
So be proud. The press for racewalking as a sport comes from a mentality of only the clock. Faster makes best.
I didn't think I'd run again after a back injury in 2004.
Walking distance allowed me to run and walk future marathons.
I advocate more regulations on lifting and creeping but walking a 1:59 or any sub 12 per mile for 10 miles is godspeed in my book, which will never be written...I don't care.
I support everything you did.
FYI I eventually went just under 11:00/mile (aka 5.5mph) for the 50km distance, but of course that's a long long way from being good: I was walking ~7min clicks and the good guys do 7min miles.
Never got coaching but am headed to a clinic in a few weeks--would love to be under 5:00 for a marathon again, which I used to do en route in 50km races, but this is forty years later and I don't see how that time is possible without some kind of efficient technique!
Correct. The skill in racewalking is running with a very low stride and being sneaky about it. Its no more silly a sport than all the strokes in swimming though.
Wrong I have witnessed proof in the Carlsbad 5000 that Philip Dunn had perfect racewalking form.
Using some kind of technology or super slow motion camera aimed at his feet the entire time?
Agree 💯 with the swimming strokes point, in athletics why don't we have every running event running forwards as present but also backwards, sideways and hopping?
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Jon Gault was correct when he stated that a 58 year old woman being able to place so well shows how watered down the field is and makes the whole competition a joke. I think most of LRC already thought of the event as a joke, but this makes it even more so now. I’m curious why/how people get into the sport. It must be a an ego thing. Just be content with being an average runner and maximize your potential there. What other sports would a 58 year old be able to compete at on a high level? Golf is one example that comes to mind. Phil Mickelson won a major when he was 50. But golf is more of a skill-based/technical sport than the pure athleticism, endurance, and strength required in track & field. I know Tom Brady is an outlier in football and LeBron in basketball, but those guys were/are 45 and 40. Can we please get rid of racewalking as an event? It is an embarrassment to the sport.
Gualt is correct, Michelle placing 3rd it does display the weakness of the event in the United States currently. This does not mean the competition is a joke, here or world wide. It does not mean it is an ego thing and certainly doesn't mean someone should be content with being a mediocre runner. That is all typical Let's Run nonsense. If you are going to have a conversation about it at least be realistic about it. The walk in the U.S. lacks the high school presences that most other events have. The hammer and the javelin are the only events comparable. The Jav only has 16 states that do it and almost all our Jav throwers come from those states. There is a direct correlation. The Hammer is a little different in that the same pool of athletes from the sot and discuss get exposed at the collegiate level and we have a lot of very good collegiate throws coaches. Only the state of Maine and parts of NY have high school walking so the pool is very very small compared to all the other events. The decline of walking for men at least started in 83 when NY dropped the walk from the high school program. Further events hastened it. Without a high school and then colligate system the event cannot be realistically developed. Several comments have been made about the talent level of the current athletes and that is fair but keep in mind on the women's side at least half are masters athletes and that is because of the lack of development. That does not mean you or anyone should be throwing shade at them. Michelle is one of the best masters middle distance masters runners in the world and and was an outstanding middle and long distance runner in her 20's. She ran 4:20 for 1500 in 88 and at that time it was the 19th fastest in the U.S. at the time. She also ran 2:48 marathon in 95 to to qualify for those trials. So was she a good enough athlete? From that time period yes. Keep in mind to she was 20th in 92, 13th in 96 and 17th in 2000 and beat the 92 Olympic Champion in 2000 at the trials. For 92 she was the one of the top placing athletes in distance events, after Lynn Jennings Bronze, There have been several athletes who performed well in running and racewalking. The Silver medalist in the 5000 from East Germany in the 83 World Championships, Alina Ivanova a 42 minute racewalker was a 2:27 marathoner. Most elite runners don't have the athletic traits to be good racewalker and those same traits make it so elite racewalkers are not elite runners. It is comparable to the discus and shot where the traits that make an athlete good at one are a detriment to the other. I realize there are not going to be a whole lot of cogent post on this and some will just be trolls but that doesn't really matter. Michelle did the race because she could and it was fun. Finishing 3rd was a bit of surprise but being there really shouldn't be the standard to get in in 2000 was around what Michelle just walked. In any case whether you or anyone doesn't like the event then my advice would be turn your head and don't watch. You do you and let others be.
So I live in northern Cal and when I was in my mid-late 50s, I started having knee issues around 2018, it comes and goes. I would just go to the gym and crosstrain on an elliptical, bike, stair climber or whatever. None of them bothered my knees, and they'd eventually recover. Never thought about RW.
When the pandemic hit, ba-zing! Another knee problem only this time, no gyms available (closed), I have no home gym, and add in horrible fire smoke. So after sitting around for a couple of weeks and going stir-crazy, I'd go out to the beaches or wherever the air was passable after work. And I'd try "race-walking" which was refreshingly ... a workout!
I tried a mile at Kezar, 8:45 then another 8:47. I'm not sure if my form was off but it was close, it didn't hurt my knee and that's all I cared about. Eventually I took to 'time-trialing' 5000s and went 28:17, 27:52, 27:16, 26:49 in several efforts over the years. Those were hard and felt like 8Ks for an open runner.
At 59 I went 25:57, and at 60 I went 25:28 for 5000, am 61 now. This was all in practice, I couldn't care less about competing, but it was something I could do in a reasonable time frame that delivered that "run buzz" you get from a good, strong effort. I've walked in front of a couple of friends who are USATF officials and they seem to think my form is pretty good.
Now apparently the world-record for 60+ male is 24:12. I may be doing OK at 25:28 which is probably similar to an 8K race time for me as a young guy, but I am very confident that if the best runners (for example B. Lagat) took up race-walking by the time they reached 60 they would destroy that record by 3+ minutes.
Agree that the event is soft. The range of 20K finish times from this US Olympic Trials was something like 1:27 - 1:51. But, it is a really good workout and I like gaving something I can do in my pocket when I'm injured, can't run, and am sick of toiling at an indoor gym.
I may talk to a coach to see if they can iron out any hitches in my form. But I just kind of do it to keep going when injuries keep me down.
As someone who walked a 5:40 full marathon (just below 5:41) with a 2:29 something split in the first half...yes 11:23 per mile... not only did I get a time I didn't expect in the first half...I know I did it by walking...so your sub 2, which is 11:54 per mile...is very good. You should be proud and you make a case for actual racewalking as a sport very compelling.
Philip Dunn passed me in a running race while he racewalked years ago... knowing what creeping and lifting is, I can tell you he was doing neither.
The problem today is that the best racewalking medalists both creep and lift more than the three total violations allowed before a disqualification.
I have walked a hand timed 9:56 mile (with a flip phone stopwatch in hand)
So be proud. The press for racewalking as a sport comes from a mentality of only the clock. Faster makes best.
I didn't think I'd run again after a back injury in 2004.
Walking distance allowed me to run and walk future marathons.
I advocate more regulations on lifting and creeping but walking a 1:59 or any sub 12 per mile for 10 miles is godspeed in my book, which will never be written...I don't care.
I support everything you did.
FYI I eventually went just under 11:00/mile (aka 5.5mph) for the 50km distance, but of course that's a long long way from being good: I was walking ~7min clicks and the good guys do 7min miles.
Never got coaching but am headed to a clinic in a few weeks--would love to be under 5:00 for a marathon again, which I used to do en route in 50km races, but this is forty years later and I don't see how that time is possible without some kind of efficient technique!
Did I not say it IMPRESSED me and I SUPPORT everything you did.
Some of you are just mean people
I still support it but God Almighty take a freaking compliment.
Or not.
Sit and wait for an elite to compliment you. Forget it. I'm over you.
Rohl is 58 years old, moron! That's why age-grading comes into play as a point of reference. Let me guess, you thought Ed Whitlock was a slow old man that embarrassed himself on the regular with his marathon records?
No, but our point is if Ed Whitlock got 3rd at the Olympic Trials we would rightly conclude that event is a joke.
racewalking brings nothing but disgrace to our sport. why it's still around is beyond me.
I don't recall ever hearing a casual fan mention racewalking being disgraceful. Weird maybe but not disgraceful. The vast majority of people either don't know about it or aren't interested in T&F in the least. I think the sport will survive just fine with or without RW.
Good luck to him. Why would this even bother anyone? If you want to talk about disgrace to the sport look at the Master's dopers, or the age cheats, or the plethora of chemically enhanced long distance runners that rule the world stage.
FYI I eventually went just under 11:00/mile (aka 5.5mph) for the 50km distance, but of course that's a long long way from being good: I was walking ~7min clicks and the good guys do 7min miles.
Never got coaching but am headed to a clinic in a few weeks--would love to be under 5:00 for a marathon again, which I used to do en route in 50km races, but this is forty years later and I don't see how that time is possible without some kind of efficient technique!
Did I not say it IMPRESSED me and I SUPPORT everything you did.
Some of you are just mean people
I still support it but God Almighty take a freaking compliment.
Or not.
Sit and wait for an elite to compliment you. Forget it. I'm over you.
How very strange. I was just providing a little more info about my later development in the sport--not rejecting a compliment at all.