Racewalking
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September eight of the racewalkers over the age of 50 from the Abe’s Army group entered the racewalk event at the Illinois Senior Olympics in Springfield. None were disqualified for violations of the racewalking rules, and all eight won age-group medals and qualified for next summer’s National Senior Games at Stanford University.

Racewalking rules
Racewalkers participating in judged races are disqualified if three judges observe them violate either of the two rules of racewalking. The first rule is that it must appear to the naked eye that the athlete always maintains contact with the ground, i.e. the trailing foot may not leave the ground before the heel of the lead leg touches the ground. In reality, most of the top racewalkers do have an “in flight” period where both feet are off the ground, but it is of such short duration that a judge cannot detect it. This rule does not present much difficulty for beginning racewalkers.

The second rule is that the lead leg must be straightened at the knee from the time the heel makes contact with the ground until the leg is vertical underneath the body. Once the leg is past vertical, the knee may be bent. Racewalkers bend their knees on the trailing leg as it swings forward but must straighten it again before heel strike in front of the body. Everyone finds compliance with this rule awkward at first, but practice gradually makes it feel more natural.

“About the fourth or fifth evening I began to feel comfortable keeping my knee straight,” said Joyce Ludwig, one of the Abe’s Army racewalkers. “Then I started working on keeping my shoulders down and moving my arms. Once I became comfortable with my form, my entire body started to relax. It all fell into place.”

Even world-class racewalkers may get caught violating the rules. Several were disqualified during races at the Beijing Olympics this past summer.

Technique
The North American Racewalking Foundation’s Web site (www.philsport.com/narf/) provides an excellent primer on racewalking technique.

The site’s Racewalking 101 tutorial uses an animated stick figure to illustrate proper form. “Perfect your technique first,” advised the aptly named Max Walker of Greenwood, Ind., winner of about 20 national age-group racewalking titles up to 50K. Speed can come later.

The two rules of racewalking
1.It must appear to the naked eye that the athlete always maintains contact with the ground.
2. The lead leg must be straightened at the knee from the time the heel makes contact with the ground until the leg is vertical underneath the body.

It’s beneficial for beginners to have an experienced racewalker help with technique. Bad habits can be difficult to break.

The basics of good technique include an upright posture with head up and eyes looking ahead. Arms should be bent at approximately a right angle and should swing such that the hand moves from about mid-chest height slightly in front of the body to just behind the hip. Elbows should not flail out to the side but be kept close to the body. All energy is expended moving forward, not wasted going side to side. The ankle on the lead leg should be flexed upward as far as possible so that the toe of the shoe is pointing up when the heel strikes the ground. The ankle should remain flexed up while rocking forward onto the bottom of the foot, as if the bottom of the foot were the runner on a rocking chair. As the body moves forward and the leg trails behind, the foot continues to rock and the heel lifts off the ground.

Before the foot leaves the ground, the ankle and toe are extended to push off and propel the body forward. The knee is bent as the leg swings forward, but it must be straightened again before the heel touches the ground in front of the body. The stride should be short in front of the body and longer behind the body. (Yes, that is possible.) The feet should land in front of one another. Imagine someone walking down a painted stripe that is four inches wide. In regular walking, the right foot would fall off of the right side of the stripe, and the left foot would