Competitive Racewalking

Niagara Walkers

Competitive Racewalking

Racewalking is much more than just walking fast. An Olympic event since 1908, racewalking combines a unique blend of endurance and technique to propel elite walkers at surprising high rates of speed.

RULES: Racewalking has only two technical rules:

The walker must not lose contact with the ground that can be seen by the human eye.

The supporting leg must be straight from the moment of impact until the leg passes under the body -- this differentiates racewalking from running.

Within this framework, competitive racewalkers spend countless hours perfecting their form to produce a smooth and fluid stride that can maximize their speed while meeting the two technical rules.

Disqualification: Certified judges position themselves on the race course to observe the racewalkers. When, in the opinion of three different judges, a walker violates either of these two rules, the walker is disqualified from the race.

Walking Speeds: Competitive racewalkers train heard to beat other walkers, set new personal records or simply be as fit as they can be. While world-class athletes are capable of walking at very high rate of speed (see box below), local competitors typically race between 8 and 14 minutes per mile -- most in the 11 to 13 minute per mile range.

How Fast is Fast?
The women's American record for racewalking a mile is 6 minutes and 18 seconds, the men's record is 5 minutes and 38 seconds.

In setting the men's world racewalking record for 50 kilometers, the record setting walker averaged faster than 7:08 minutes-per-mile for over 31 miles.

Comments: Web Coordinator
http://www.niagarawalkers.org/news/crw.html
Last updated: January 19, 2004