What is "walking" when in a race?

A digression from the prequels. The general answer -  in the fund raising events that I see scheduled - is that people signing up for the walking categories are not meant to run or jog at any point in the distance covered. That's never been a problem for me - I never jog, nor run, nor have ever enjoyed doing that. Most walkers are in the events for the exercise, because they support the charity, because they want to improve their times, and because they like the camaraderie.

What I do can sometimes be categorized as fast walking, power walking, and fast recreational walking. All of it is "not running."

There is also the more formal "race walking." Have you seen Olympic Race Walking? Remember the very pronounced hip swiveling?

There are two basic rules of race walking. (USATF #39 & 150).

• Racewalking 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 straightened (i.e., not bent at the knee) from the moment of first contact with the ground until in the vertical position. 

The first rule is easy for a walker like me and for even very fast walkers. Part of a foot is always on the ground....at no point do we have both feet flying through the air as do runners and joggers.

The second rule is harder to master. The knew must not be bent when the front leg hits the ground and remain unbent until the leg passes underneath the body. Most walkers - particularly on hills - bend the knee at least a bit. The second rule is where walkers get disqualified in formal, judged race walking events. Don't think of formal race walking as "stiff legged" walking, like in the Munsters. It is quite legal to have your leg bent when the leg is behind you! The Empire State Games and USATF meets have formal, judged race walking.


The rules don't mention "swivel hips" at all. However, the gait that you see in formal race walking events is a very efficient, fast way of walking. If your hip swivels forward on each step, you're gaining an extra couple of inches on each stride and a very efficient motion.


I have seen no formal race walking judging as part of the Eastern New York mixture of 5Ks, etc. Having even a walking category (rather than only running)  is a plus and encourages recreational walkers, fast walkers, power walkers and any definition of walker to participate. For example, there were 144 walkers in the Lap4Life event and I don't remember any doing a sustained formal race walk technique.

In a couple of other events, I've see a few with the race walking gait and, in general,  they have been far ahead of me. I'm very impressed and, perhaps in time, will try to master rule 2 and also become more efficient. At the moment, though, I'm content in doing the kind of "fast" walking that I do! 


After the break are some URLs of various walking sites. A lot more detail there!


 Walking  and Race Walking Sites I've looked at:
   http://www.thewalkingsite.com/


   http://www.eracewalk.com/Home.htm


   http://www.usatf.org/groups/RaceWalking/

   http://www.racewalk.com/