By Marjorie Houston

Despite being one of the original disciplines of modern athletics, racewalking is sometimes derided as a contrived or “artificial” sport. At the1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, Bob Costa, a sports commentator, compared the event to a “contest to see who can whisper the loudest.” He was roundly criticized for the comment.

Walking was a competitive sport as early as the 19th century. In March of 1879, at Gilmore’s Garden (today known as Madison Square Garden), screaming fans cheered on their latest sports craze: “pedestrianism.” That is right – competitive walking. Contestants had to circle the track for six days and reach a distance of 450 miles. Athletes were not allowed to leave the track and whoever traveled the farthest was the winner. In 1880, racewalking, as it is known today, developed as one of the original track and field events at the first meeting of the English Amateur Athletic Association. The first racewalking guidelines came from an attempt to regulate rules for the popular long-distance competitive walking event.

Racewalking first appeared in the Olympics in 1904 as part of the all-around competition, the precursor to the decathlon. In 1908, the stand alone 1500m and 3000m racewalking events were added although racewalking for women did not become an Olympic event until 1992. Today, prescribed distances can be as high as 100km. The standard distance for the 2024 Paris Olympic competition was 20km and 35km for both men and women. The IAAF World Racewalking Cup holds 10Km racewalks for juniors ,and USATF offers competitive racewalking events at youth, open and master’s levels.

Although considered a footrace, racewalking is different from running. A racewalker must appear to have one foot in contact with the ground at all times, and the front knee has to be straight as the hips pass over it. Judges watch the race and show paddles with symbols on them to the walkers to indicate if either rule is being broken. To achieve competitive speeds, racewalkers must attain cadence rates comparable to those achieved by runners but with a shortened stride in order to keep form.

So how fast are racewalkers able to move? At the 2024 New Balance National Indoor T&F championships held in April of 2024, Taylor Farrell out of New York broke a national record completing the mile in 7:05.14, and Rowan McDonald from Maine completed his mile race in 7:05.96. At the Paris Olympics, the women’s 20km was won in a time of 1:25.54, and the men’s gold medal winner finished in 1:18.55.

Yes, people may stare at the hip-swiveling stride of the racewalker, but the sport is as much fun as it is competitive. It has all the physical benefits of running along with the added enjoyment of less wear and tear on the joints. I took up racewalking after 45 years of running as a way to break out of a series of injuries. I soon realized that I was competing just as hard but with far less stress and more ability to move quickly. I found the world of racewalkers to be open and welcoming to a newcomer to the sport, while also being surprised at how competitive and serious the participants are about the sport. The sport is represented in regional, national and world events as well as at high school and college levels. Underappreciated, perhaps. Respected, most definitely!