A beginners guide to Racewalking and the ‘Challenge’!

Time to step up to a new challenge? 

 Considering trying something new and rising to a new challenge?  Well, look no further! The wonderful world of race walking is here for YOU! 

Give it a go and who knows, you might just discover a whole new passion!  

Here are some friendly tips to help you hit the ground walking (pun intended!): 

 Master the technique: 

Race walking is much more than just fast strolling, it’s got a style all of its own. Keep one foot on the ground at all times (sneaky jogging is seriously frowned upon) and make sure your leading leg stays straight until your body passes over it. It might feel a bit funny at first, but you’ll soon get the hang of it. 

 Start slow and build up: 

Don’t worry about speed right away. Focus on getting the form right and walk just a short distance, maybe just round the block or a lap of the track. Gradually increase your time and distance. You’re not racing (yet!), so take it easy and enjoy the process. 

 What you need: 

No expensive equipment is required. A pair of trainers that offer support and flexibility will do the trick (definitely NO spikes). 

Swing those arms: 

Your arms are your secret weapon in race walking. Bend them to about 90 degrees and swing them energetically. Think of moving your hands from your sternum to your pocket and rather than punching forward focus on pulling your elbows backwards. Keep your shoulders down and your hands relaxed, don’t clench your fists. This will boost your momentum and make you feel like a pro. 

 Practice: 

Try doing some drills. When I started, I found the YouTube videos posted by Coach Carmen to be invaluable, have a look at Coach Carmen 101. It’s very important to have the right technique from the start as you will quickly develop muscle memory and rather than perfect, practice makes permanent. 

 Join the fun: 

Come and join us at the Bar End track on a Wednesday evening, sessions start at 6:00pm. You’ll be sure to receive a warm welcome. 

 Have a blast: 

Seriously, don’t stress if you’re not perfect right away. Enjoy the rhythm of your steps and the fact that you are challenging yourself and trying something new. You’re already a champion for starting. 

Give it a go and who knows you might surprise yourself with how much you love it. Any questions as you get going? Just ask. Rest assured, we’re here to cheer you on! 

Author: Nick Fleeman 

 NOW TRY THE CHALLENGE 

 If you feel even just a little bit motivated by Nick’s write up, then how about having a go at this. 

 Using the technique explained (as best you can) try doing a self-timed lap of the track. This could as be part of your usual warm up, warm down, separate from your normal session or even as part of a group, and note the time it took you to get around. Most people should be able to manage below 3 minutes 45 seconds, but it is more about enjoyment. If your time is significantly below this or you enjoyed the experience, then we would be delighted to have you join our group. Just for reference, our two senior citizen male walkers consistently go below 3 minutes and another one of our number regularly smashes the 2 minutes 15 seconds mark for a lap. 

We would be interested in seeing your times, so please feel free to let us know how you did by sending an email to derek.smith@wadac.org.uk  

Derek Smith 

Racewalking leader 

2025 WADAC Track & Field rankings

The 2025 WADAC Track & Field rankings make for hugely impressive reading.

The women have set no fewer than 28 new all time top 3 club performances and these include 2 new British Masters indoor records for Moira West (coach Dave Sherry) over 60m & 200m, 2 absolute indoor club records (the best indoor performance ever achieved by a WADAC female) by Arabella Wilson (coach Andy Fisher) over 400m and Lexie Trott (coach Tom Farres) in the pole vault and 2 absolute overall club records either outdoors or indoors by Annie Mann (coach James Mann) over the mile and Jess Howells (coach Andy Fisher) in the javelin.

Every single WADAC female performance so far this year can be found on the rankings list below.

WADAC 2025 female Track & Field rankings

The men have set a mere 16 all time top 3 club performances and these include 3 new absolute indoor club records (the best indoor performance ever achieved by a WADAC male) by Alex Beck (coach Mark Upron) in the 400m, Thomas Evans (coach James Mann) in the 1500m & Oliver Thatcher (coach Andy Fisher) in the shot putt.

Every single WADAC male performance so far this year can be found on the rankings list below.

WADAC 2025 male Track & Field rankings

Interesting to note that the rankings cover 3 continents with performances so far this year taking place in Europe, North America & Africa.

All top 3 performances have been updated in the records section of the website.

Record number receive RPMF Grant

The Ron Pickering memorial fund was created in the great man’s memory and along with another great man’s memory in Llloyd Cowan the fund awards grants annually to young athletes with potential. Many of the stars of our sport have received a RPMF grant in previous years.

This year no fewer than 7 WADAC young athletes recieved a grant this year which will help them with training and competition costs throughout 2025.

The WADAC recipients in alphabetical order are and details of all the award winners and how to apply for a grant for next year can be seen on the link at the bottom of this message.

Alex Beck (Mark Upton)

Lucia Bertacchini (Andy Fisher)

Charlie Elford-Pond (Jake Norris)

Jess Howells (Andy Fisher)

Gracie Osman (Andy Fisher)

Mia Judd (James Hind)

Arabella Wilson (Andy Fisher)

RPMF Website

WADAC ladies are Queens of Cross Country

The Ladies of WADAC had a stunning Hampshire League Cross Country Season having the best results in all three team age categories for many years.

The Vets ladies retained their Team Gold title winning 3 of the 4 races, with stunning performances by everyone. Vicky Gill won the vets ladies overall title, Kiralie Leigh-Jones 4th, Charlie Hoskins 5th, Sian Lewis 6th and Amy Howard 10th in V40 and Emma Carter 6th in V50.

Senior Ladies won a hard fought for and well-deserved Team Silver title with Annie Mann coming 3rd in league and Vicky Gill 4th. This is wonderful but the most impressive thing was the fantastic turn out at every race, fielding a squad that was full of amazing runners full of WADAC team spirit.

Junior Ladies fulfilled the potential they have shown in previous years fielding a full team for 3 of the 4 competitions. With fantastic competitors and team moral meant they won Team Silver. Annie Mann came 2nd Under 20 and Christina Wigley 4th.

2025 Outdoor Track & Field Fixtures

The clubs outdoor fixture list is vast and can look daunting as there are so many fixtures throughout the year.

It is important therefore that you and your coach create a competition plan that is right for you.

To help this process, I will email a tailored fixture list to all the clubs members with the relevent fixtures for your age group which filters the clubs vast fixture list to only events that you or your son and daughter can take part in.

I have begun this process with the U11 age group and will gradually work my way through the age groups over the next couple of weeks to enable you to get all the important dates in your Spring & Summer diaries.

To help the club at league matches we are also looking for Team Managers that can assist with organisation and logistics on the day at league matches. The Team Managers checklist has been updated on the club website and can also be seen through the link below. Based on feedback from previous Team Managers, the role is now managing the team on the day only with selection the responsibility of the Head Coaches making the job much more enjoyable and less onerous. Anyone interested should contact me.

Team Managers checklist

A Tale Of Two Walks

Club racewalker, Nick Fleeman, has an inspirational book published interlinking two major events in his life. One being a life saving operation a few years ago, and the other representing his country earlier this year. It is a remarkable story and well worth a read and currently available to buy on Amazon in either paperback or Kindle format. Please click on the link below.

A Tale of Two Walks: Amazon.co.uk: F, Nick: 9798323294794: Books

If you wish to contact Nick regarding his experiences, his email address is: njfleeman@gmail.com

The club dazzles at annual awards night

WADAC held its annual awards night last night with 150 attendees and star guest speaker GB International Heptathlete Grace Richards (nee Clements).

The awards showcased a never ending list of talented athletes across all age groups and event disciplines and you could only be in awe of the performances of the athletes throughout 2023. Looking forward to 2024 already.

Those that attended who had a top 3 all time WADAC track & field performance received an achievment award and here are the list of Performance & Contribution award winners.

Triathlon

Performance awards Amber Price & Ollie Nurse

Contribution awards Jess Perry & Ben Boyd

Sportshall

Performance awards Mia Gligorowski, Anais Andrews, Jackson Purdie & Harry Elliott

Road Running

Performance award George King

Contribution awards Vanessa Monteleone & Tom Stephenson

Cross Country

Performance awards Millie Honan, Leo Davies-Pratt, Ellie Jepon, Luke Furby, Grace Baker, Ruben Price, Eve Baley, Eddie Chambers, Lily Neate, Will Boutwood & Vicky Gill.

Contribution awards Isabelle Hoskins, Jack Sansome, Evie Smith, Sam Parker, Rosie Sharrock, Aiden Furby, Jasminne Gosse, Ben Chesterfield, Ellie Davies, Rose Chesterfield & Emma Carter.

Track & Field

Performance awards Eva Raftery, Declan Dew, Lexie Divers, Tom Pate, Isabelle Letch, Gracie Osman, Casper Wilson, Mia Judd, Oliver Wye, Amy Wall, Charlie Elford-Pond, Laura Clark, Gareth Lewis, Moira West & Tim Smales.

Contribution awards Liane Marquis-Onibuje, Evan Perry, Hallie Eldridge, Harry Moreton, Lucia Bertacchini, Beth Mballa, Zac Reynolds, Erin McBriar, Ieuan Thomas, Jasmine Gordon, Sam Jarrett, Rosie Upton, Sam Clifton, Amanda Smith & Pete Sansome.

Coach of the year

David Vosser

Young inspirational athlete of the year (Allegra Cup)

Abi Belward

Ewan Simmonds thrower of the year

Abi McBriar

Tony Bushell Official of the year

Heather Sheffield

John Broadway Club person of the year

Gill Bowyer

Vets female athlete of the year

Lucy Elliott

Vets male athlete of the year

Jeremy Clifton

Young female athlete of the year

Arabella Wilson

Young male athlete of the year

Ned Scott

Senior female athlete of the year

Annie Mann

Senior male athlete of the year

Alex Beck

CC6 race coming up at Itchen Valley Park 12th November

The second CC6 cross country race will take place at Itchen Valley Park on 12th November at 9.30am. All club members are encouraged to join in this free 2 lap 4.7 mile race over grass and gravel. Just bring your club top and some trail shoes (spikes not recommended). There is plenty of parking at the park (but you will need to pay), car sharing is advised.

The start finish is near the Go Ape course, What3Words : pits.exist.anyway please note there will be a minutes silence before the start of the race. Cake and water will be available at the finish and toilets are located by the nearby cafe.

The CC6 league now operates a park run style bar code system so if you have not already done so please register your park run bar code, details here https://cc6.co.uk

Course details and map

Lucy breaks British record

Results from Aldershot last Thursday

Lucy Elliott (coach David Vosser) broke the V55 British Masters 3000m record on Thursday at the AFD Open Meeting at the military stadium in Aldershot.

Lucy clearly has a love of the track at Aldershot as she ran a time of 10 mins 08.58 secs which beats the time she set at the same meeting last year which was outside the british record. The British Masters Athletics federation website has already been updated with Lucy's new record which sits proudly alongside the 5000m record she set at Tooting Bec last year and the V70 200m record that Moira West set earlier in the season at our home track in Winchester. Both records can be seen through the link below.

https://bmaf.org.uk/outdoor-track-records/

This wasn't the only WADAC performance that night. Derek has already reported on the walkers but Philip Krinks (coach Dave Sherry) ran a huge new pb in the 200m as did Elsie Brindle (coach Mark Upton) going 3rd on the clubs all time U17W age group list with a time of 24.84 secs. Training partner Laura Clark (coach Mark Upton) ran just outside her pb and Owen Watts (coach David Vosser) also ran a 200m pb of 25.18 secs breaking the clubs masters V35 record in the process. Vicky Gill (coach David Vosser) ran just outside her seasons best time in the 1500m.

Women win Hampshire Vets League

In nailbiting finish

The Hampshire vets league came down to a nailbiting conclusion on Monday but the womens team prevailed over local rivals Southampton AC by just 8 points to take the overall league title. The ladies lost the match on the day but the 6 point margin wasn't enough for Southampton to overtake WADAC who had a 14 point lead going into the match with each team winning 2 of the 4 league matches each.

The mens team came 4th on the day and finished the season in 4th place overall in the league.

With usual hosts Ashford having done more than their fair share, it would appear that there will be no Southern Counties league final this year (the final takes place between all the winners of the county leagues) unless a new host can be found which is unlikely at this short notice.

A big thanks to Team Managers Heather & Andy Gannaway who have marshalled the troops excellently this season and to all the officials who turned out to ensure the matches took place.

The vets ladies become the 2nd track & field team to secure a league title this year after the lower age group YDL team won their league and hopefully the club hasn't finished its pursuit of silverware just yet.

Team WADAC win SAL match 2

The club won its second consecutive SAL match of the season when competing in Aldershot on the 18th June. With the usual mix of youth and experience that this league brings the club won points across run, hurdle, jump & throw with many athletes throwing themselves into events they wouldn't normally do.Sam Adams was a great example adding sprint hurdles and steeplechase to his usual long and triple jump and he also competed in both relays as the match concluded with the club winning all 4 relay events to seal the win.The match score hasn't yet been updated on the SAL website but all results can be found on pof10 through the link below.https://www.thepowerof10.info/...The third round of matches takes place in Bournemouth on Sunday the 9th July.