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In the Long Run, Boomers May Discover that Racewalking is the Way to Go

The Washington Post, 6/9/09

Abstract:

There's a running gag in my family that goes like this: We'll be driving through some neighborhood and come upon one of those women (it's always a woman) power-walking down the sidewalk. You know the type: wildly exaggerated stride, arms pumping furiously, sometimes with a small weight in each hand.

"Dork walker!" one of my kids will cry out.

Sometimes it's me who does that...

...Not the dork, er, power walkers. No, these are racewalkers, and they believe that once word gets out to the nation's more than 70 million baby boomers, their sport could become the Next Big Thing.

"I want racewalking to become for baby boomers in their 50s, 60s and 70s what jogging was for them in their 20s," says Brent Bohlen, author of the new book "BoomerWalk: Why Baby Boomers Should Replace Running and Jogging With Racewalking."

It's hard to dispute Bohlen's main point: Racewalking is low-impact. As we age, the sport is much easier on our backs, feet, ankles and knees than running. How many people do you know who have been forced to give up running because of the constant pounding? I've run for years with a nagging knee injury and a recurring foot problem that requires occasional cortisone shots.

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