Race walkers ready to step up
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10K event, seminar part of Run for Women events
By ALAN WECHSLER, Staff writer
First published in print: Wednesday, May 27, 2009
It's not easy being a race-walker. It looks silly.
"At first they look at you: 'What the heck are you doing?'" said
Lawrence, director of race walking for the USA Track and Field
Adirondack Association. "People do have a knee-jerk reaction."
But jaws drop when people find out how fast they go. Lawrence's best
time for a mile was 5 minutes, 57 seconds. He race walks faster than
he used to run.
"They're almost in awe," Lawrence said.
While the Freihofer's Run for Women this Saturday gets all the hoopla,
race walkers will have their own time in the spotlight.
At 7:45 a.m., there will be a race-walk 10K for qualified competitors.
At 12:30 p.m., some of the nation's leading race walkers will lead a
free seminar at the Empire State Plaza concourse. And at 1:30 p.m.,
there will be a 1.2-mile beginner race walk competition on the plaza.
The seminar will be led by Olympians Tim Seaman of San Diego and Jeff
Salvage of Philadelphia. Also speaking is Kevin Eastler of Altamont, a
former Olympic race walker who retired because of injuries after
competing in Beijing last summer.
"At the elite level, when you're doing 100 miles a week and six
minutes a mile, there's a lot of stress there," said Eastler, a former
Air Force officer now in a management training program at G.E. Energy
in Schenectady.
Race walking requires a serious eye for technique, certainly more than
the average runner need worry about. One foot must never leave the
ground, and the knee must be straight until the foot passes underneath
the hip. What results is a swiveling, graceful stride, a technique so
exacting that racers get disqualified if not done correctly.
"It's something people spend their whole careers trying to get right,"
said Eastler, who began race walking when he was 9 years old.
With around 4,000 people competing in race walking around the country,
it's a small community. But that also has its benefits. Eastler spent
two years in the Air Force doing nothing but training for the
Olympics. And Lawrence earned a full college scholarship after taking
part in a single race walk event in high school.
Organizers of the seminar this Saturday think older runners may want
to consider race walking as a way to stay competitive while easing the
impact on their aging knees, hips and ankles.
But they may also have to develop a thick skin. Not that that's
something Lawrence has a problem with.
"I'll go down the main street of any city," he said. "Sometimes it
takes the Pied Piper to lead the parade."
Alan Wechsler can be reached at 454-5469 or by e-mail at
awec...@timesunion.com.
Walk the walk
Here's a list of race walking events taking place this Saturday at the
Freihofer's Run for Women:
7:45 a.m.: 10K for qualified race walk competitors, on the plaza.
12:30 p.m.: Seminar on beginning race walking, in the Empire State
Plaza Concourse near the State Museum.
1:30 p.m.: 1.2-mile beginner race walk, on the plaza.
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