Future Events:
Austin Meet with 1500m & 3K Racewalks
March 27, 2010
This meet will start, most likely, at 9AM with a 1500K walk, to be followed about an hour later with a 3K. The location is still to be determined, but it will probably be in Cedar Park or Leander. As we get closer to the date, check back here or the Waterloo Track & Field Club website for more information.
April 30 - May 2, 2010
Racewalking coach Dave McGovern has put an Austin clinic on his calendar for May Day weekend. Whether you are a beginning racewalker or need to hone your skills, Dave’s clinic is the way to go. The fee is only $175 and Dave’s clinics are always lots of fun as well as great training. For more information, see Dave’s website or contact local sponsor Pam Fron.
Past Events:
Light Turnout for Saturday Racewalks at Vista Ridge H.S.
February 20, 2010
Waterloo Track & Field Club's Seth Brower reports that there were only a handful of racewalkers competing in the 1500 and 3000 meter racewalks at Vista Ridge H.S. in Cedar Park Saturday morning. Part of the problem, Seth says, was that people did not get notified by the organizers when the events had to be moved from Rouse H.S. to Vista Ridge, so a few racewalkers went to the wrong track and missed the races. We apologize for not posting the change here but we were not notified, either.
November 15, 2009
We had around 20 walkers turn out for the 1500 and 3000 meter racewalks, enough to have a male and a female heat for each race. Coordinator Seth Brower reports that there were not as many masters walkers as we usually have for these meets, but the South Texas Racewalk Team came up with a group of youngsters and there were another 4 kids from the Austin area. Great to see some young people taking up racewalking!
For results from the races, check the Waterloo Track & Field Club website.
How about moving these races to the street? That's what Seth Brower is asking us to comment on. He is proposing a new format for our local meets in which a 5K and possibly also a 3K racewalk would start on the track, then move to the street, and finally end up back on the track. If you have an opinion about this one way or the other, please pass it along to Seth.
August 23, 2009
A 1500 meter and a 3000 meter racewalk were on the schedule. We had a good turnout for both races, with a dozen entries in the 1500 and ten in the 3000. Before the meet, Bert Pickell, the racewalking coach and official from San Antonio, held a short racewalking clinic, mostly about the rules of the sport.
After the races, Bert made himself available to individual racewalkers for coaching, based on his observations while he was officiating the races. One of the best reasons for participating in these meets is the opportunity to get coaching from experts like Bert who may be there, coaching or officiating, as well as from other, more experienced, racewalkers.
For results from the races, check the Waterloo Track & Field Club website.
July 10 & 12, 2009
Congratulations to our own Alberto Medina who won both the 5K and 10K racewalks at the USATF 2009 Masters meet! On Friday, July 10th, Alberto, who is in the M45 age group, walked a 5K on the track in 27:13:24. On Sunday, July 12th, he walked a 10K on the road in 55:17:46.
May 23, 2009
We had a good turnout of about a dozen racewalkers for the 1500 meter and 3000 meter walks at the USA Track & Field / Lions Club 18th Annual Championships meet at Rouse High School stadium in Leander. Waterloo Track & Field Club has posted the times on their website. Click on “Results” at the top, then “Lion/Waterloo Championships”. The times are by gender and age, so you may have to search around some to find your name.
Track Meet at McNeil High School
March 28, 2009
It was about 40 degrees with a strong, cold wind out of the north on the McNeil HS track at 8AM Saturday morning. Maybe that’s why we only had 3 racewalkers show up for the 1500 meter walk and 1 for the 3000. But thanks to Seth Brower and all his volunteers, the racewalks were still held. The 3000 meter entrant decided to make it a 5000 and he ran in combination with the 1 entry for the 5000 meter run. Local racewalkers really need to make an effort to show up for these track meets, come hell, high water or norther, or we are going to find ourselves without any.
November 15, 2008
About a dozen racewalkers took part in the 1500 and 3000 meter racewalks at the Lions Meet at McNeil High School in Austin on Saturday morning, November 15th. Unfortunately, a cold front had blown into the area during the night, so racewalkers had to deal with a chilly temperature and a strong cold wind out of the north.
May 17, 2008
The Lions Championships Meet took place on Saturday, May 17th, at Elgin High School. A 1500 meter racewalk with about a dozen walkers kicked off about 7:45AM and was followed by a combination 3000 / 5000 meter racewalk around 9:15. Only one walker kept going for the 5000 meter distance; everyone else figured 3000 was enough. As is always the case at our local events, we had racewalkers at all skill levels, including some beginners.
For beginning racewalkers, especially, it is extremely valuable to racewalk with others who are more experienced. If you want them, you can get tips and feedback from other racewalkers and sometimes from attending coaches.
The official results from all the events at this meet have now been posted on the Waterloo Track & Field Club website. Click on “Results” at the top of the page then click on the Elgin meet from the list. The racewalking results are at the very bottom of the results page.
Second Dave McGovern Clinic Brings Dallasites to Austin
May 2-4, 2008
Racewalking coach and author Dave McGovern conducted his second Austin clinic in under six months over the May 2-4 weekend. This time, the location was Camp Mabry. Local sponsor Pam Fron reports that about 20 people attended, the majority of them from Dallas.
15 Attend Racewalking Clinic
April 12, 2008
Waterloo Track & Field Club's Seth Brower reports that they had 15 or so people -- a mixture of "masters and youth, men and women" -- attend the April 12th racewalking clinic at Clint Small Jr. Middle School. Ten people stayed and participated in the 1500 meter racewalk after the clinic. Seth extends his thanks to Bert Pickell and John Knifton for helping with the clinic.
American-Statesman Article Features Austin Racewalking!
January 8, 2008
The main emphasis of Pam's story was on the almost injury-free nature of racewalking, which we think should be of great interest to all those runners we see on the trails with braces on their knees! She also covered the rules of the sport, the speed of world class racewalkers, did interview with racewalking coach Dave McGovern on the eve of his December Austin clinic and a lot more. It was really a very well-written and comprehensive article. She provided a link to Dave's website as well as a link to this one.
We think that every bit of publicity helps and this is the best publicity we have gotten so far for Austin racewalking. If it results in a few more Austin racewalkers on our trails, that will be great! The more Austin racewalkers there are, the more Austin racewalking events and clinics we will have here in the future.
Dave McGovern December Austin Clinic Big Success!
December 7-9, 2007
The well-known racewalking coach and author, Dave McGovern, completed a successful racewalking clinic here during the December 7-9, 2007 weekend. Dave's a former member of the U.S. National Racewalk Team. He's been on six World Cup teams and six Pan Am Cup teams.
He's been conducting racewalking clinics around the globe since 1991. He works with people at every stage of their racewalk training, from rank beginner to trained athlete. Many of his clinic graduates have gone on to win championships and set age-group world records. At the Austin clinic, it appeared as though about half of the participants were beginners.
We had 27 participants in all, who came not only from locales in Texas but from as far away as Maine. As part of the clinic, Dave shot videotape of everyone before any training, then again after a full day of of individual and group feedback and instruction. The differences ranged from subtle but important -- with some of the experienced racewalkers -- to very dramatic changes with most of the beginners. It was clear to see, on video, that everyone, without exception, showed improvement in technique and that everyone got faster. Of course, training over time, using the techniques learned in the clinic, will provide the greatest, lasting payoff.
So, thank you, Dave, for a great Austin clinic! And thanks to Pam Fron, for coordinating the event and providing a great dinner for the clinic participants at her house on Friday evening. She did a tremendous job!
For more information about Dave and his clinics, check out his website.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Silicon Laboratories Marathon Relay
September 22, 2007
That does not sound like much until you realize that all the other teams were running while ours was walking! Our team beat 35 running teams with an average team pace of 10:06/mile.
Austin Racewalking Clinic
September 15, 2007
In addition to John, we had another former Olympian on hand to help out, Vincent O'Sullivan, who was on the American racewalking team in the '84 Olympics.
Some who came out for the clinic were experienced racewalkers while one or two were beginners who had never racewalked a step before that day and wanted to get a grasp of the basics. John went through a series of basic instructions and drills for everyone. He and Vince also provided a lot of individual instruction for those who asked for it. There were quite a few video recorders on hand, so most people had videos made of themselves or someone else made one for them. John made the point that there is nothing like having a video of yourself racewalking to be able to see clearly what you need to work on.
KXAN-TV reporter interviews racewalker John Knifton
September 14, 2007
We would have liked this interview better had there been more talk about the almost-injury-free nature of racewalking and how much fun it is and a little less talk about how it "looks different" but with TV you have to take what you can get in the few seconds you end up with. John Knifton told us that he and Swift did talk more about substantive issues but, of course, most of the interview ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor.