But I Already Know!
A comment on a recent post by Brent D. on his blog struck me as another example of the elitism of runners. As a runner and sometime racewalker, I know that walkers often bear more than their fair share of abuse from the running community. One need only visit LetsRun.com's message boards (an excellent running site, but its unmoderated message boards make it a particularly egregious example) over a few days in order to find a thread bashing either racewalkers or charity marathon runners (some of whom often walk significant portions of the marathon) to see some examples of this.
Walking for performance is in fact technically more difficult and less natural than running. Additionally, walking provides an excellent pathway for beginning runners to condition themselves with less risk of injury. It can also provide an excellent aerobic workout for runners working to rehab certain injuries. This said, it's my belief that education is never a waste, and a handbook for walking, while it may not be very useful or practical for you today, may prove invaluable at some point in the future.
I was always struck by the title of one of Nigella Lawson's books, How To Eat. If you want to berate something for being obvious, then why not this book? The answer quickly becomes obvious when the book is examined, it educates you. In the case of eating, much of that education comes in the form of "stop and smell the roses" things, but others come as answers to "whys", like why do certain foods work well together.
In the case of walking, there is a lot that can be analyzed; shorter versus longer strides, arm position, hip movement, etc. Brent's post wasn't really negative, though he appears to have found the concept amusing. While most of the blog comments were either silly or expressed mild amusement, some had a tone that was at least a bit biting. (OK, you may say, "Get a thicker skin" and you may be right, but to my thinking, if running feels elitist to those outside, then our sport is less likely to grow.)
If you want to see some walking websites, I'd suggest starting with: Maggie Spilner's Walk For All Seasons, Racewalk.com, and About.com's Walking Site.
While walking may not be your thing, it certainly deserves respect. I've been coached at walking by some excellent people. I know how to walk (and might be able to outwalk some of those commenters as they run a marathon), but I am always looking for another thing I can do to improve. Do you really know how to walk?
Walking for performance is in fact technically more difficult and less natural than running. Additionally, walking provides an excellent pathway for beginning runners to condition themselves with less risk of injury. It can also provide an excellent aerobic workout for runners working to rehab certain injuries. This said, it's my belief that education is never a waste, and a handbook for walking, while it may not be very useful or practical for you today, may prove invaluable at some point in the future.
I was always struck by the title of one of Nigella Lawson's books, How To Eat. If you want to berate something for being obvious, then why not this book? The answer quickly becomes obvious when the book is examined, it educates you. In the case of eating, much of that education comes in the form of "stop and smell the roses" things, but others come as answers to "whys", like why do certain foods work well together.
In the case of walking, there is a lot that can be analyzed; shorter versus longer strides, arm position, hip movement, etc. Brent's post wasn't really negative, though he appears to have found the concept amusing. While most of the blog comments were either silly or expressed mild amusement, some had a tone that was at least a bit biting. (OK, you may say, "Get a thicker skin" and you may be right, but to my thinking, if running feels elitist to those outside, then our sport is less likely to grow.)
If you want to see some walking websites, I'd suggest starting with: Maggie Spilner's Walk For All Seasons, Racewalk.com, and About.com's Walking Site.
While walking may not be your thing, it certainly deserves respect. I've been coached at walking by some excellent people. I know how to walk (and might be able to outwalk some of those commenters as they run a marathon), but I am always looking for another thing I can do to improve. Do you really know how to walk?
posted by Scooter at 1:38 PM
4 Comments:
I've seen both sides of runners. At events, the runners have always been very supportive - cheering for me, etc. as I plod along with my true walk. As a middle-aged woman with plenty of extra pounds, I really appreciate those cute stud-muffin runners cheering for me out of pure sportsmanship.
But on the other side I've heard them at the marathon directors' conference basically wishing they didn't have to accommodate slower runners or walkers. Those who do know where their bread is buttered - it's the run/walkers and walkers who are keeping their events in the black. But they just hate seeing the average finish time for their marathons climbing skyward. They hate having to provide enough porta-johns and staff waterstops longer and keep roads closed longer for the slow people.
Some marathon directors are truly walker-friendly - Les Smith of the Portland Marathon, for example.
But there are plenty of runners out there who can't accept that walking is exercise, who see no benefit in walking. Research proves them wrong - walking provides great health risk reduction, and walking burns calories. But it doesn't give you that same "high" unless you are able to achieve high speed/high heart rate.
I disagree with your assessment of Brent's post as elitism. It does make an interesting subject for your post, but I think that you are off base. I don’t believe that he was making fun of walkers. While walking, race walking, or run/walking are different, most runners that I know support and encourage everyone participating. As I was running an out and back half-marathon in the fall, the race walkers were on the way back while we were starting out running. The runners shouted encouragement to the walkers as we crossed paths.
Can’t we all just get along?
My response to your post is on my blog. www.150mgofhappiness.com
Hey Scooter,
You're getting hammered on this one buddy!!!
I have a huge amount of respect, admiration and not a little affection for those in a marathon at the back of the pack, be they walkers or slow runners.
But on a crowded course when you're worried about your time, I can understand people's frustration with people strolling three or four abreast across the road. We all need to learn to share the road.
Maybe you and Brent should collaborate on a Marathon Etiquette book, Scooter!
I know that when I pace a group who are doing ten and ones in a marathon that I make a point of getting them off to one side of the road and loudly letting all the runners around us know what we are doing.
Even then you get snide comments from runners passing you. Of course we usually breeze by them around 22 or 23 miles... :)
I guess what I'm trying to say is that we'll all in this together and we'll have a much better time with a little patience and understanding.
And today's walkers and slow runners may be passing us tomorrow!
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