Race walking

Nate Rucker remembers sitting on the bus with his University of Dubuque track and field teammates waiting for their coach to give them the green light.

They had already arrived at the racing site, but the orders were to sit still because a racewalking event was still in progress on the track. Rucker’s coach refused to let his team file out of the bus with racewalkers in view.

“He said he didn’t want to subject us to having to watch it,” said Rucker, who now coaches racewalkers at Central Methodist University in Fayette.

That debate rages on. The legitimacy of the sport continues to be brought into question by collegiate track and field coaches who are intent on keeping the sport out of NCAA competition.

Michael Rohl, who is in his fifth year coaching track and field at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, has been at the forefront of this debate. An advocate for racewalking at the NCAA Division I level, Rohl has written proposals advocating the addition of racewalking to NCAA coaches and committees but has been met with hesitance and even hostility.

“There’s been a lack of exposure and limited competition experience in the past,” Rohl said. “Coaches, as a group, are very inertia-bound. If they are doing something, they go all at it. If they aren’t, they don’t want to start.”

The lack of respect is widespread. Mention the word “racewalking” and the response is often a laugh followed by a comment about hip movements. The authenticity of the sport continues to be hurt by its stigma.

Wayne Armbrust, a track coach who now coaches his wife, pointed out the uniqueness of the sport.

“Look at it,” Armbrust said, pointing to his wife as she circled the MU track. “It looks funny. It used to look a lot funnier in the old days where there used to be a big hip wiggle. A lot of people make fun of the walking until they see it and see what tremendous athletes these walkers are. A lot of coaches still just make fun of it and ridicule it.”

Rohl and Mike Dewitt, the racewalking coach at University of Wisconsin-Parkside, said they will continue to push for the introduction of the event at the Division I level. It may be that technology will eliminate the concerns of illegitimate judging. Or it may take the U.S. falling further behind in international competitions before a push is made.

“The bottom line is that it has been around for a while, and it’s not going anywhere,” DeWitt said. “I think somewhere down the line, if things change one way or another, if people get back to the grass roots and see track and field as an opportunity to help people be more fit, then someone might finally see that there is a place for racewalking.”