Walk a 3-hour Marathon??

That sounds about right. Top race walkers do 20k in around 1:20. I think the world record for a 5k is around 18:30. The best racewalkers in the world are as fast as mediocre runners like you and me, yes.

Man, that's depressing.

Deakes' 40km split was 2:50:30, which would have him at 2:59:00 for 42km and just slightly under 3:00:00 for the the marathon distance. He did crash big time at 44km, but had build up a large enough cushion to still dip under the WR by 16 seconds.

There was a group of Mexican race walkers here, and they would alternate miles of running and race walking during races. They were hitting < 6:30 pace running and < 7:00 pace walking.

So what's the average stride length and cadence of a very good racewalker? Anybody know?

As for elite running, 13:00 5K means the runner is covering just a tick under 385 meters p/minute. If elite distance runners have a cadence of about 185 steps p/min. (which seems pretty reasonable), then they're covering ~ 2.08 meters p/step in a 13 flat 5K … which is almost 6'10" per stride — amazing!

MonkiMcSpanky wrote:

There was a group of Mexican race walkers here, and they would alternate miles of running and race walking during races.

Were they doing this in a walking race or a running race?

galloway once walked a sub 2 hour marathon

dnixon wrote:

So what's the average stride length and cadence of a very good racewalker? Anybody know?

1 - 1.1 m per stride and between 210 - 240 strides a minute.

As a reference here are accepted values for different races comparing runners and walkers:

100m (10.0) = 300 strides/minute

MileW(6:00) = 293 strides/minute

20kW (1:20) = 268 strides/minute

200m (20.0) = 250 strides/minute

50kW (4:00) = 223 strides/minute

400m (45.0) = 200 strides/minute

800m (1:45) = 188 strides/minute

Mile (4:00) = 188 strides/minute

Mar (2:10) = 163 strides/minute

That was Rexing

they need to enforce the walking rule and not let half of these people run during these events. is it a rule that you have to have atleast one foot touching the ground at all times?

someone take a photo of some elite racewalkers and tell me that they aren't running... just with goofy form.

USATF Rule 232.2:

Definition of Race Walking. Race Walking is a progression of steps so taken that the walker makes contact with

the ground so that no visible (to the human eye) loss of contact occurs. The advancing leg must be extended at the knee (not bent) from the moment of first contact with

the ground until the leg is in the vertical position.

Very Interesting. From where did you pull these figures? And how is it that walkers can sustain incredibly high turnovers for extended periods (e.g., 20K @ 268 strides/minute? Does the energy gained in not lifting off get "redirected" toward cadence?

By the way, at at 225 strides/min., Deake would have a stride length of about 3' 4 1/2" for 50K.

Not sure of the original source of the information, but I got it from USATF Coaching Ed documents.

It comes down primarily to muscle physiology and the talents that make good walkers from people who normally are better than average runners, but cannot be elites. Their combination of muscles fibers is closer to that of long sprinters, but they do not possess the ability to generate the power that sprinters do, but maintain the turnover with a reduced stride length. The lack of power also affects their endurance running, but the ability to process large amounts of O2 and also not fatigue over extremely long efforts makes them ideal for RWing.

After that, it is a matter of training to develop the neuromuscular skills to RW at speeds and distances with proper technique. Where the problems occur with technique is when the athlete is unable to sustain a % of VO2max for long periods of time. This usually occurs between the 1/2 and 2/3 point of the race and is where the DQs will start to happen, as the neuromuscular connections will turn off and the athlete is unable to RW legally anymore. This is why Deakes puts in volumes as high as 300km a week.

One additional clarification: the only thing that keeps race walkers from breaking three hours in the marathon is that....well, the hip-action required to do that CERTIFIES that you're gay.

And of course no race walkers are.

They're total.....studs. They're hot.

Swish on, friends.

dnixon wrote:

Very Interesting. From where did you pull these figures? And how is it that walkers can sustain incredibly high turnovers for extended periods (e.g., 20K @ 268 strides/minute? Does the energy gained in not lifting off get "redirected" toward cadence?

By the way, at at 225 strides/min., Deake would have a stride length of about 3' 4 1/2" for 50K.

As in running, in racewalking the shorter athletes have a bit faster turnover and the taller athletes a bit slower turnover -- the longer lever taking more energy, the period of the pendulum, etc. It's not true, by the way, this myth that all athletes run at 180 steps per minute and that Mottram and Bekele have the exact same stride length.

Deakes is on the tall side, maybe 183 cm or more. I'd guess his stride rate was somewhere around 210-220 for the first 40k, then slower. A stride lenghth of 1.15 to 1.2 meters would be about right for his size. No doubt his coach Craig Hilliard at AIS would know; these are just guesses. Perhaps because there is less vetrical componet to the walk motion, more energy can be put into stride rate. In running, the most efficient distribution of energy is with a longer stride and slower tempo than in walking, but walkers are constrained by the rules that, as MJR notes, say the walker must appear to be in contact with the ground to the human eye in real time. Yes, walkers are gaining a few centimeters forward progress while airborne for 10 to 20 milliseconds, which makes it a bit easier to cover 120 cm or so per step.

It's hell of hard to walk even one kilometer in 4:15 and appear to be on the ground as Deakes did for 50k. Love it or hate it, find it absurd and bogus if you wish, but don't rationalize to yourself that walkers aren't fit and skilled and all they do is jog. What they do takes a rare combination of endurance, power and technique, and if you think this comes easily, you are probably one of those joggers who doesn't think world cup nordic skiers or pro cyclists or Ironman winners are very fit, either. Whatever.

Well, I'm not on the same planet as the Aussie--I never broke 30min for 5k of walking--but even at my low level, some "runners" weren't much faster: I walked sub-5:00 for the marathon several times (en route in a 50k), and since then have met a number of people who've "run" 5:00-plus marathons.

Atypically (for me), I've never mentioned to these folks my walking times. Their spending five hours in a marathon is punishment enough, I'd say...

> 100m (10.0) = 300 strides/minute

> 200m (20.0) = 250 strides/minute

> 400m (45.0) = 200 strides/minute

I'm confused. There's going to be a small difference due to there only being one start in each race, but thereafter how come the 200m guys are striding approx 2.4m and the 100m guys 2m? The 400m guys would be going 2.67m. Surely the 100m and 200m runners would be going 'approximately' the same distance per stride. Or are those figures made up?

I tried to racewalk a mile...did in like 8 minutes...it killed my shins and hips for a week.

Alan

Hugh Jarse wrote:

> 100m (10.0) = 300 strides/minute

> 200m (20.0) = 250 strides/minute

> 400m (45.0) = 200 strides/minute

I'm confused. There's going to be a small difference due to there only being one start in each race, but thereafter how come the 200m guys are striding approx 2.4m and the 100m guys 2m? The 400m guys would be going 2.67m. Surely the 100m and 200m runners would be going 'approximately' the same distance per stride. Or are those figures made up?

The figures are averages based upon video studies of hundreds of races at those distances and performance levels.