Have you heard that race walkers waddle like ducks? If so, you heard it from someone who doesn't really understand race walking.

As a longtime walker of many types, and as a coach for everyone from people starting an exercise program to competitive race walkers, I've seen the different ways that people come to our sport (yes, walking is a sport!).

In any small group of people, there are bound to be those who like to knock others down to try to make themselves (supposedly) look better. Just like any other prejudice, this is usually the result of people making assumptions and not fully understanding others. This has unfortunately been rampant in the walking community and has been fostered by many of the walking "experts." You may be asking yourself What is he talking about? What I'm talking about is the bad press that many people have given to my beloved sport, race walking. After seeing one too many slights, I feel that I need to address the issue.

How many times have you heard that race-walkers waddle like ducks? Or seen some person do a contorted pseudo-race walk? Consistently, the walking media keeps driving the point home that you can get in shape "without having to look like a race walker." The problem with most of these people is that they don't really understand race walking and have probably never seen someone race walk who really knows what he or she is doing. When I start teaching people how to race walk, one of my biggest obstacles is to erase from people's minds their visions of how a race walker moves. Probably most of what you've seen and labeled as race walking is by someone who states that he or she is race walking but isn't doing what I would call race walking.

Race-walking is just the most efficient way to move. You can race walk at any speed, so anyone who says that (fill in the blank) walking is faster than a stroll and slower than race walking doesn't know what he or she is talking about. If that were the case, all race walkers would finish all races together.

Athletes in any sport practice over and over to be as smooth and efficient as possible. One notable race walker, Jonathan Matthews, once described the stride of a race walker as seemingly ugly when he didn't understand it, but like the bird in the fairy tale, turned into a graceful swan when he got to know and feel the motions.

Walking is the only sport where the masses try to denigrate their top athletes instead of supporting them. By getting to know others instead of name calling, you may find the swan inside your own walk.

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