This is a new race in Dover, NH, started by two triathletes. This is not only a new race, but is the first race they had ever organized. The RD got in touch with me last Fall, and I had been trying to help by answering any and all questions she threw at me about organizing a road race. They decided to include a walker division, so of course, I had to enter.

The day dawned foggy and chilly, but it was supposed to warm up nicely once the sun came up. FR: navy shorts, orange shirt, blue/white cap, and my Mizuno Mushas.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that several people from my racewalking training group had also decided to come out for the race. So we all did our warm-up together and chatted about race strategy. I reminded them that, although it wasn't a judged race, I'd be checking to make sure they stayed 'legal.' We had a good chuckle over that, but I knew a couple of the guys tended to violate the rules when they went too fast, so I wanted to remind them that form is always important, even if no one is judging.

When we lined up for the 8:30 start, the sun was up, the fog had cleared, and the temp was perfect at about 50. There were about 180 people, and I lined up about 10 rows back from the front with one other racewalker, and with another one not too far behind us. Kyoshi was on my shoulder after the start (I could see his shadow). After about a half mile, there was a short but steep downhill that is a shin-killer for any racewalker. Kyoshi and I went down as quick as we could, but it wasn't fun. Fortunately, that was the only steep hill on the course, and the rest of the race was gentle up and down hills, with just one short flat stretch. Kyoshi started to pull away from me after that downhill, as my shins were still yelling at me about not being so hard on them.

I regrouped, and stayed even with Kyoshi for a while, but couldn't gain back any of the ground I had lost. Sadly for me, but happily for him, he continued to gradually pull away for the rest of the race. I couldn't see his knees well enough to tell if he was keeping his front leg as straight as it needs to be, but he clearly wasn't showing the flagrant rule violations that I had seen in some of our workouts.

I finished in 32:04, about :30 behind Kyoshi. I would have liked to have finished under 32:00, but I was close enough, and that still would not have put me in front of the leader. The third racewalker was only about 15 seconds behind me, which was about 4 minutes faster than he thought he'd be able to go. Fantastic!

So, the top 3 male walker finishers were all from our training group, as was the top female finisher (who set a new 5K PR, despite the hills). She had been in quite a few road races before, but not one with a walker division with prizes. After she got her award, she told me she liked this walker division stuff!

It wasn't my best race, but I was very excited that Kyoshi and the rest of the walkers from our group all did better than they expected. I suspect they'll be doing a bit more racing from now on.

I found one of the organizers after the race, and he told me he'd much rather have run the race because keeping on top of everything on race day was hard work. Well, yeah... But they did a very good job, and I think they were pleased that their hard work had paid off, and their first race went quite well.

Next up for me is an 8K judged racewalk in RI on the day before Boston, and then I'll be doing check-timing at mile 10 at Boston.I hope to see some of you there as you fly by.

Jay

Racewalking is hard enough but doing it competitively all the way is awesome. Congratulations.
.
A local racewalker was teaching me the technique in a recent marathon

but I got too tired after a mile ot two and reverted back to jogging. 

He left me in his dust.

Nice racing, Jay.  It sounds like a good day for you, your club, and the new RD.  Congratulations.

TomS