Steyning AC (Sussex) 10k Race Walk
29th October 2011

 

Official Result

David Sutcliffe 1.16.13 2nd MV75

 RACE WALKING  is dwindling in popularity and take-up, despite its Olympic status.  Races and walkers are scattered far and wide.  Walking sections in athletic clubs and coaching resources are rare.  Training can be a solitary activity even inviting ridicule.

SO WHY BOTHER WITH IT?.....With running still impossible following knee injury then surgery and loads of physiotherapy over three years, race walking is proving - even after this one race - to be a way back into the ''buzz'' of competition and club athletics, albeit at a modest level.  As to the basic rules and technique  it was helpful to have had a  brief experience of the sport during student days when a friend persuaded me to join him in the (long discontinued) London - Brighton Walk. Ten hours trundling on the A23 seemed boring at the time especially as many of the walkers looked quite old - some even looked over 50!  Running remained the better option.         

STEYNING AC, located between Worthing and the South Downs, offers race walking for all ages, though the ''Open 10k Road Walk'' attracted an entry of only fifteen men and five ladies. Of the men, ten were aged sixty or over, the winner in 53 minutes being a sprightly 55-year old. The field included three Olympians from the 1970's while a fourth was one of very few race marshalls. With the small field soon strung out over hilly  winding stretches of quite busy ''B roads'' with no footpaths (Harriers race managers would have been horrified) it was a relief to find just one walker going at around my pace for the whole distance. On learning that the winner of my age-group took around 59 minutes, I was assured that comparison was irrelevant as  the chap was world record-holder at this distance for several age groups. 'Full' race result can be easily found under 'race results' on www.RacewalkUK 

NEXT RACE? It would be great to meet up with a mix of 'all abilities' rather than a ''who's who'' of the race walking fraternity

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