Road etiquette

...no business like show business! National Women's Show business that is. WoW had a booth at the show this past weekend for the first time ever. It was a great success. We met lots of women (and a few good men!) and opened eyes to the incredible fitness possibilities walking offers.

We also met some people who had encountered some of us on the race course before. Usually this is a positive experience as they are inspired by the pace and form of WoW Power Walkers.

Sadly, in the case of one woman who visited us on the weekend – she had a different experience. Apparently, when she was participating in the Around the Bay Road Race 2008 she started with the walkers. She was doing a run-walk version of the course. And, she got an earful from some WoW Power Walkers that she needed to be walking. This continued throughout the race to the point when an argument ensued.

Well, we all know how this frustrates those of us who train to walk the entire course. I experienced it personally walking the Angus Glen Half Marathon two weeks ago when the male lead jogged just ahead of me for the first 2 kilometres. As I passed him, I struggled with what to say. It’s just so frustrating and, yet, I hate to discourage anyone who is out on the race course. As I walked by him I said “Good morning” and then suggested that he probably should have signed up for the running division.

I’m not sure this was the correct way to approach him, but I could not pass him without saying something. I do believe that race organizers need to be very clear that walking divisions are for people who walk the entire race. Many race organizers with whom I talk tell me that the “policing” of the walkers is the single greatest deterrent from introducing walking divisions. And no race organizer likes to be accosted at the end of an exhausting race day with a slew of angry walkers complaining that someone in the division was running. As far as they are concerned, the aggravation is not justified by the numbers in the division – at this point in time.

We need to be conscious of the challenges facing race directors while continuing our efforts to encourage them to publish clear guidelines for walking participants. At the same time we need to be good walking citizens on the course. There must be some way we can remind people jogging their way through walking divisions that they should be registered as a runner, without discouraging their efforts as a participant in general.

If you have trained to power walk the entire way through a race, you are an inspiration. Let your form and speed speak volumes. Together, let’s come up with a way to remind people on course and off course, that it takes a special effort to walk every step of the way.

Ideas welcome here.