DO WALKERS WALK?

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2767, 4 February 1882, Page 3

DO WALKERS WALK?

Walking is to us and all civilised people the most natural and easy kind of progression, and, if walking' races really did anything towards improving that means of locomotion, we should be the last to propose to abolish them, but walking as we walk on the road or in our ordinary gait, is a totally different mode of covering the ground to that adopted in racing, and, with one or two notable exceptions, bears not the ■lightest resemblance either in motion or appearance. Would any first class match walker go about the streets in the style which he adopts when walking in a race? Certainly not. If he did he would surely be treated as a lunatic, and run a fair chance of being conducted to the nearest police station. This is not because of the pace at which he would be travelling, but in consequence of the extraordinary contortions he would be performing, and in ordinary clothes the motions of the body peculiar to walkers of the present day would look even more grotesque than when the exhibitors are in racing costume. If a good runner were to rim along the road he would certainly attract the attention of passers-by, because of his speed, but none would think he was suffering from aberration of intellect; on the contrary the probability is that they would admire the grace and ease of his movements..

A few years since it was considered that anyone wanted to go a very long distance on foot, the only thing to do was to walk, and under those circumstances walking, even in peculiar style, was worthy of encouragement. Since then, however, it has been amply demonstrated that the best way of covering a long distance in a comparatively short time is to adopt what is generally known as a jog trot, and as this is the style almost universally adopted by the noble savage" we may ta|e it for grunted that it is the natural one—as it is most decidedly the quickest. Walking races as an amusement to the spectators, may not be out of place, and great is the merriment caused by the styles of the different competitors. One man will carry his elbows at right angles to bis body, bringing them forward with sharp jerks, at the same time placing one leg in front as far as he can of the other, which—from twisting his hip in the orthodox form—it considerably overlaps. To make our meaning more plain we will say that wiien placing his right foot forward lie will put it to the ground about six inches to the left of the line of his left foot, and thus progress in a zig-zag motion, totally unlike any natural movement, and only allowed walking have !'-~'' r ne so deb' of 1 'ears that wc tmd judges admi.ung i;.»u sume of the competitors are not v ;ng, but that they are going in a style which custom has allowed to be fair.. Some walkists imagine that if they keep their toes pointing upwards when placing their foot to the ground, they must be accommodrting themselves to the rules of fair heel-and- toe, at the same time totally disregarding them by bounding along with a series of leaps from heel to heel. Others have a mixture of

walking and runuing, but such is the diversity of styles that it would take a page of oar paper to describe them all. Add to this the fact that judges’ opinions as to what is fair walking are almost as diverse as the various move ments of the competitors, and an idea may be formed of the state of walking races at the present time. Seeing, then, that these competitions are of no general utility, that they are more a means of amusement than interest to the spectator, that they are a frequent cause of disturbance, and that even supposed authorities cannot really define what what walking, as applied to races, is, we must seriously consider whether it is advisable to look upon it as legitimate sport, and one worthy of a place in the programmes of athletic meetings. We are too fond of any true athletic sport to wish to depreciate any branch of the same, but we must confess that if walking races cannot be competed for by men who really walk, that is in a natural manner, we would rather see them abolished altogether.