There are a number of occasions when walkers have been awarded running records when participating in ultra events

• Stan Miskin walked in a number of AURA sanctioned races in the 1990s, breaking the then AURA M80 records. These were subsequently recognised by AURA as Australian records. Around the same time, Dercyk Skinner of SA also walked to a number of M75 AURA records. A number of their walks still hold as the current AURA records. See https://irp.cdn-website.com/3007bc9f/files/uploaded/20240716a_AURA_AgeGroup_Men.pdf. So there did not seem to be any issues at that time.
• In March 2023, Joffrid Machett walked in the AURA 48 Hour Championship in Canberra and was the first male to finish. He broke a number of walk records along the way and was also recognised as the AURA Male Winner of the event. So here a walk performance wins an AURA Championship.
• The great English ultra athlete Sandra Brown walked in the EMU 6 Day in Hungary in 2022, with her walk performance recognised as a new IAU 70 world record of 610.064 km. She walked it again in 2024 with an improved distance of 573.994 km and has now applied for this to be recognised as an IAU W75 world record. So it seems that walking is not a barrier to setting world age group records from an IAU perspective.

We have clarified AUTRA's current stance on walkers appling for running records. It now reads as follows

In an event where there is only a running category then a walker can enter a race as a runner and will walk in the same lanes as the runners, but will have to walk to the outside of the lane so as not to hinder the runners. They are then eligible to claim runnings records, as long as all the records criteria have been met.
In an event where there is a walking category which allows for a separate walking lane, then the walker should enter the walking category and walk in the dedicated walking lane.  By doing so that walker can then not apply for a running record.  The walker is in a separate race and the walking results will be based on that lane's measurements and will not be included in the overall running results.

While walking on the outside of a lane is not really ideal, it is at least something. Obviously if the event is a road based event (like the Adelaide 6 Day Championship), then that restriction does not apply and the walker can walk without any further restrictions.

Last Updated    29 October 2024

Australian Centurions Secretary: Tim Erickson, 1 Avoca Crescent, Pascoe Vale, Victoria,3044 (tim.erickson02@gmail.com)