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HRW continued its participation in the international arena at the WMA Indoor Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden in August. John Anderson raced in the M 80-84 division against walkers from seven countries. He did not medal but was the second place American. Maggie McCoy raced in the W 70-74 division and finished 10 laps before being DQ’d along with 3 other women by the rigorous judging. This was her first experience racing at this high international level and she and John enjoyed the camaraderie of these senior athletes and learned a lot about our favorite sport and our fellow walkers. They look forward to more opportunities to compete at this level. The next international meet, WMA 2025 Indoors, will be in March in Gainesville, FL, one month after the USATF National Indoors at the same location.

David Eisenberg picked up another Silver Medal on 9/29/24 in New Jersey at the USATF Masters Outdoor 5K Championships in the 70-74 age division. His time of 35:25 was just 17 sec behind Ray Funkhouser, a many-times American record holder whom he had beaten in a several previous races, including two races in the WMA indoor championships in Torun, Poland last year. He easily beat the two other walkers in his age division and will enter the 75-79 division in 2025 when his medal collection should expand.

Alan Poisner noticed that the winning times for runners in the 5K Road Race in the KS Senior Games were slower in the older age divisions than his training times. So, he entered the 5k race the day before the racewalking events on Sunday. He was the only competitor who walked. He not only walked the full 5K but put in an additional 0.6 mile because the unmanned turnaround point was not very clear. A few runners also put in some additional mileage. Since there was no one else in his age division (90-94), he won another Gold medal in the Kansas Senior Games, the day before he raced again in Topeka in a regular racewalk event (1500 meters) and set a new age group record. He has been walking in the Kansas Senior Games since 1993.

In his first USATF National Masters Outdoor Championships in 2023 in Greensboro, NC in the 70-74 division, our president David Eisenberg brought home two Silver Medals (5000-meters and 10K). This year he moved up on the medal stand with Gold Medals in both races in Sacramento, CA (see Results). Next year, David will move up to the 75-79 division and will be aiming to add to his Gold Medal collection.

The downside to the races this year was the DQ’s that Alan received in the races for bent knees. He attributes those rare red cards to his almost exclusive training on the treadmill this year that led his muscle memory to flatten his feet too soon. He learned his lesson and consequently has not returned to the treadmill for serious training. HRW learned from Jeff Salvage that there are training exercises that reduce the problem with the “bent knee” rule. You can find these at his website racewalk.com.

This year, HRW participated in two 4th of July races. The longest standing race was the annual Ward Parkway Four on the 4th, starting near 87th & State Line in the shopping center. There were multiple races, including the traditional 4-miles, a new 4K and a Kids Fun Run. This course has multiple hills, and our brave walkers impressed the runners: Maggie McCoy took 7th/11 in the 70-74 division; Alan Poisner and John Anderson took 2nd and 4th in the 80+ division (the others were runners). The organizers were impressed enough that they are considering adding a racewalking division next year.

In a newer holiday race, the Stars and Stripes 5K on the Asperia campus next to our home base at the Jewish Community Center, our walking contingent also made the runners look on jealously. Janice Kelble and Kathy Dobbelaere took 1st and 4th/8 in the 70-74 division. This was a PR for Kathy. Janice’s first place finish was a tribute to her athletic development and a great PR for the Heartland Racewalkers. Way to go, Janice and Kathy!

HRW participated in the Annual Village Shalom Father’s Day races from 2010 through 2017 when it was canceled due to construction and later COVID. During some of these races, we were one of the sponsors. 2024 saw the return of the races (5K and 10K) and featured a racewalking division (thanks to our partial sponsorship). We entered all of the divisions except the Kid’s Fun Run. (see Results link).

11 of our members entered the racewalking division and showed grit and stamina in the hilly 5K course. We coopted Pat’s brother Joe to walk the course with us. Janice Kelble entered the regular 5K division and took second overall while competing against runners. Husband Joe came along while recuperating from a medical problem and managed to finish the 5K in his own wheelchair division with some family help.

A third race was the 10K (no racewalking division), and Alan did double duty by completing the 10K after finishing the 5K racewalk. He took first in his division (the only one in the 80-89) and had the advantage of walking on his home course since he lives in Village Shalom and frequently walks in this area. For all results, see https://heartlandracewalkers.com/results

In this first year back for the Father’s Day Run, Village Shalom did a great job on a slightly altered course, and next year, they plan to have more than this year’s 326 entrants-and they will with help from Heartland Racewalkers.

HRW sent three of its regular Gold Miners to Columbia, Missouri, in June, and they came away with three Gold Medals in the 1500-meter racewalk. Lori Groom, David Eisenberg, and Alan Poisner each took Gold (see Results link). In a new adventure, they also entered an 800-meter predicted-time race before the start of the 1500-meter walk. This is the same format as our annual Be-A-Walker (except for the shorter distance). They did not try to go out hard so close to the scheduled walk, but they did manage to garner a Bronze, Silver, and Gold in their respective age groups.

Last year, HRW sent three walkers to Louisville, bringing home a Silver medal, several Golds, and an American record in the 1500 meters by Alan Poisner. This year, a different threesome did it again in Chicago, with Karen Swisher adding an American record in the 1-mile race and medals from Alan and David. (see Results link).

On Day 1, Karen set the F 70-74 American record in the 1-mile race at this infrequently held distance, while Alan and David joined a number of fellow walkers who succumbed to some very zealous judges. However, on Day 2, all three of our club members took Gold medals in the 3000-meter race. This was Alan’s 5th Gold medal in the indoor 3000-meter race in various age groups, and Karen and David moved up from previous Silver medals at that distance.

So, once again, HRW shines on the national stage in Masters Racewalking, with more awards expected in the years ahead, including the USATF Masters Outdoors in July.

The international WMA has posted the 2023 ranking of racewalkers in different age divisions. Three past and current presidents of Heartland Racewalkers were recognized.

The table below shows their finishing places compared to walkers in the US, the North and Central American and Caribbean (NCCMA) and the overall World competitors (WMA). The detailed results for Karen Swisher, David Eisenberg and Alan Poisner can be found by clicking the Results link.

NCCMA = North, Central American and Caribbean Masters Athletics
WMA = World Masters Athletics Torun, Poland March 28-31

After reviewing the results of USATF sanctioned races in 2023, the USATF racewalking committee chose Racewalker of the Year age-division awards for Karen Swisher (W70-74), David Eisenberg (M70-74) and Alan Poisner (M85-89). This was the first time for Karen and David and the fifth time for Alan, the veteran of the group.

This recognition was based on indoor and outdoor races in national and international events. Karen and David raced at the WMA Indoor event in Torun, Poland in March (see RESULTS link) where Karen not only took a Silver Medal in the 3000-meter individual race in a very competitive field, but also achieved a 91.2% age-graded result-the highest ever for a member of our club and a lofty world-class result. David was the top American walker in the M70-74 division and shared the Bronze medal in the team event.