Just 14 days after our club brought home a slew of medals from the National Senior Games in Pittsburgh, and 4 months after our successes at the USATF National Masters Indoor Championships in Louisville, our past and present presidential speedsters continued our medal collection on July 21-23 in Greensboro, NC at the USATF National Masters Outdoor Championships - see Results link: http://heartlandracewalkers.com/results.php
On day 1, David Eisenberg and Alan Poisner entered the 5000-meter walk on the North Carolina A&T track and came away with a Silver and a Gold medal. David, in his first USATF Masters Outdoor event, earned a Silver Medal in a veteran field of 7 walkers, beating some former medalists in the 70-74 division. Alan had been in 5 previous Outdoor events and garnered his 6th Gold medal, this time in the 85-89 division.
Two days later, David entered the 10,000-meter walk (Alan chose not to enter) and garnered another Silver Medal, while again beating a number of seasoned veterans with a time of 1:07:07. His speedy time was close to the time he finished at the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland in March, in his first race at that distance. He should continue to be a force at this distance in 2025 when he will be in the 75-79 division.
HRW has continued its winning ways in 2023 and we expect more recognition in the rest of 2023 and in the year ahead.
Dave McGovern, the nationally recognized senior racewalking coach and athlete, will be making a return engagement to the Kansas City area, April 22-23, to present another one of his popular racewalking clinics. His website is https://racewalking.org/
Information about the clinics can be found at https://racewalking.org/clinic-dates.html#
The clinic is hosted by the Heartland Racewalkers and the contact person is John Anderson VAJuan@yahoo.com Check further updates on our homepage; www.heartlandracewalker.com
Early Bird price: $195; within two weeks of clinic: $225.
Click link below to pay by check or credit card, or Venmo/PayPal/Zella to rayzwocker@aol.com Secure Online Payment
Gift Certificates Available!
National Senior Games 2023 in Pittsburgh, PA, July 7-9, 2023
After taking a number of medals at the USATF National Masters Indoor championship in Louisville in March, the Heartland Racewalkers started the outdoor track season at the National Senior Games in Pittsburgh at the beginning of July. Due to the relatively mild July, there were a number of excellent times and a couple of records.
The seven racewalkers came away with 4 Gold, 4 Silver, and 2 Bronze medals, along with 4 ribbons in the two races: 1500 meters on a high school track and 5K in a venue paralleling one of the three great rivers in Pittsburgh.
Karen Swisher, a former club President now living in Wisconsin and still a club member, took Gold medals in the 1500-meter and the 5K races, breaking her own record in the 5K in the 70-74 division. Alan Poisner from Overland Park, a veteran walker who was club president for 20 years, also took two Gold medals. This was the third time that he has taken two Golds in the 85-89 division, while beating 22 of the 53 men who were in younger age divisions. David Eisenberg, the current club president, won two Silver medals and continues to show faster times after his breakout racing success at the World Masters races in Torun, Poland in June. Lori Groom won a Bronze medal in the 5K walk, while Eileen McManus won a Silver for her time in the 1500-meter race and a Bronze for her 5K time. Earning ribbons, given to those who finish in the top eight places, were John Anderson and Maggie McCoy.
In the Power Walking 1500-meter race, Sharon Poisner took 4th place in the 85-89 division in the very first race she had ever entered. She beat a woman in a younger age division and is looking forward to her next race.
World Masters Association TORUN’, POLAND 26-31-March 2023
Two Heartland Racewalkers ventured abroad to show their walking skills and made a very impressive showing in this international athletic event.
Karen Swisher, our former president and a current member who resides in Wisconsin, made a dramatic entrance to international walking by taking a Silver medal in the 3000-meter race on March 27. Her time of 18:27.4 earned her an amazing 91.2% age-graded status, the highest value ever garnered by a member of our club. She was the top American and beat 9 of the other 10 elite walkers in the 70-74 division in this typically indoor event.
Four days later, she did another fast time in the 10K (outdoor) race and finished in 5th place in a time of 1:06.56, allowing Team USA to take the Gold medal in team competition.
On the men’s side, our current president, David Eisenberg, was also the top American and finished the 3000-meter race in 18:47.1, good for 7th place in a star-studded field of 18 walkers. This was a dramatic start of international racing in David’s short racewalking career (just 3 years).
In the 10K event, David not only made a PR (1:07:02), good for 8th out of 20, but also led the American team to Bronze medal status in the team competition. The times of the three fastest from each country are added to determine the ranking.
Members of Heartland Racewalkers have now been on Gold medal teams in international competition in both indoor and outdoor races (2011) and can now add a Bronze to the medal collection. We can expect more in the future. (see Results link).
Our club brought home more medals to add to our substantial collection at the USATF National Masters Indoor Championships in Louisville, KY March 10-11 (see Results link).
On day 1, Lori Groom started off the women’s 60-64 1500-meter race by taking her first medal in the nationals-and it was a Gold! To show that this was not a fluke, she followed up the next day by doing another PR and winning a second Gold Medal.
David Eisenberg, club President and rising star on the national stage, made his USATF indoor debut in the 1500-meter race a Gold Medal performance when he beat all the other men in the 70-74 division, several of whom were former champions. His speedy time in the 3000-meter race garnered him a Silver Medal to go along in his impressive medal collection. This was another PR and a warmup for his races at the World Masters Championships later in the month in Torun, Poland. See related story in News.
The veteran in the group, Alan Poisner, returned to indoor competition where he has won Gold Medals four times in the 3000-meters and set a record in the indoor mile in 2017 in Albuquerque (80-84). In the 1500-meters, his finishing time of 10:48 not only took Gold but also beat the former record in the 85-89 division by 38 seconds. He took another Gold in the 3000-meters.
Heartland Racewalkers impressed the national racewalking community in Louisville and once again brought home more athletic accomplishments to the Kansas City area.
Dave McGovern, the nationally recognized senior racewalking coach and athlete, will be making a return engagement to the Kansas City area April 22-23, to present another one of his popular racewalking clinics. His website is https://racewalking.org/ Information about the clinics can be found at https://racewalking.org/clinic-dates.html#
The clinic is hosted by the Heartland Racewalkers and the contact person is John Anderson VAJuan@yahoo.com Check further updates on our homepage; www.heartlandracewalker.com
Early Bird price: $195; within two weeks of clinic: $225. Click link below to pay by check or credit card, or Venmo/PayPal/Zella to rayzwocker@aol.com Secure Online Payment Gift Certificates Available!
