In an article titled "This Guy Walks Faster Than You Run," the Wall Street Journal recently featured Rich Luettchau's mastery of the misunderstood sport of race walking.
Rich, a geographic information specialist based in our Iselin office, qualified for the Olympic trials in the 20-kilometer race walk in 2012 and 2016. On July 30, he came in second in the USATF 10,000-meter Race Walk Championships in Manalapan, NJ.
"The movement looks like a wonky tango, so it's easy to mock," Rich says. "But it's incredibly difficult."
As the article notes, "Race walking requires the walker to be in contact with the ground at all times. Only when the front foot's heel touches down can the back foot's toe lift off. And the race walker's knee must stay straight through the leg swing."