What a day! I just spent a total of about 8 hours on a bus with 40+ kids to attend a racewalking race just outside of Copenhagen. Fun, but exhausting at the same time. I happened to compete in the women’s 10km race, but just did it as a workout. There were only 4 other women in my race. My friend, Philip Dunn, who is also on the World Cup Team and staying with Andreas, raced in the 20km race. He placed 2nd to Andreas after walking together for 12km. In my race, Monica (the 50km world record-holder) needed to walk a fast time in order to be considered for the World Cup Team for Sweden. She walked 46:41, compared to my 55:10. She'll most likely be in Russia with the rest of us!
So these kids are part of Andreas' club which was organized by his father, who is also a racewalker (past Olympian!) They come from the underserved areas in Gothenburg. The club provides uniforms, food for the races, transportation, water bottles....everything, so that the parents have no excuse not to let them participate. The kids had so much energy and were so excited about racewalking! Being with them reminded me of being our BAWSI girls. They were so inquisitive about Philip and me and being from the USA thrilled them! And when I was racing, they would cheer me on and cheer "U-S-A! U-S-A!" So cute! But even cuter was seeing them race :)!! By the end of the day, we were giving each other hugs and high-5's. It was awesome!
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