Race Walking Trio

March 6, 2020
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The 2020 World Race Walking Team Championships may have recently been postponed because of the Covid-19 crisis, but when a date is announced for the re-arranged event, New Zealand will be sending their first team to the competition for 25 years. Steve Landells chats to the trio of Kiwi women set to represent their country in the 20km race walk.

Courtney Ruske – The Comeback Girl

Age: 25

20km Race Walk PB: 1:44:07

After spending three years away from the sport, Christchurch-based school teacher Courtney Ruske has been rewarded for her return by winning selection. Taking up race walking at the age of 12, Ruske was an exciting age group talent, setting U20 national records for the 10km (road) and 10,000m (track) back in 2014. But after undergoing surgery for a cartilage tear on her right knee in early 2016, the four-time New Zealand senior race walks champion opted to take an extended break from the sport.

“It took me a while to get my strength back in the knee (after surgery) and then I decided to focus on university and did other things with my life.”

However, watching Alana Barber win a memorable silver medal in the 20km race walk at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games acted as the spur for her return to the sport.

“It was so nice to see Alana win a medal,” she explains. “It made me think, that if I give the sport a go once again, and can keep improving there is a possibility that one day I could compete at the Commonwealth Games.”

So in late 2018, self-coached Courtney re-started training. Fitting in training demands around her job as a full-time primary school teacher has not been easy. But targeting her three key sessions a week has been critical, so cycling the 14km round trip to and from work every day has expanded her aerobic work. Claiming bronze medals in both the 3000m and 10,000m race walks at the New Zealand Track & Field Championships earlier this month, reaffirmed to Courtney it was the right decision to return to the sport.

“I love being back among so many friends,” she explains. “Race walking is such a tight-knit community, it is awesome to be back.”

Winning selection for the 2020 World Team Race Walking Championships in Minsk has acted as a huge boost and she praises the decision of Athletics NZ to be more lenient on qualification times to allow a team to be selected. Once in Belarus she hopes to produce a good showing.

“When the postponed race is eventually run, I hope to achieve a PB or a season’s best and to get back to the times I was doing before surgery – that would be the ultimate goal,” she says. “It is so exciting to be selected. The field will be phenomenal.”

Laura Langley – The Young Gun

Age: 22

20km Race Walk PB: 1:48:58

Laura Langley believes the selection of a New Zealand team for the 2020 World Race Walking Championships will not only act as a boost for her personal ambitions in the sport, but further help raise the profile of the discipline in her homeland.

“To be able to not only reach the (qualification) standard, but to select a team is great!” explains Laura, who had targeted qualifying for the event since early 2019. “It is awesome to see Courtney back involved in the sport, both Courtney and Alana are such amazing people. We all stayed together at Courtney’s flat at the 2020 nationals in Christchurch, so we’ve all got to know each other really well. It was so much fun, and it will be great to go away with them.”

Based in Napier, Laura was a former runner who claimed a top five spot in the 3000m at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships. However, she decided to test the waters in race walking after a conversation with her team manager Graeme Jones, himself a multiple-winning national race walking champion, while competing at the 2014 New Zealand Road (running) Championships.

After agreeing to give race walking a go, she made quick inroads and within months won the national U20 3000m track title and 10,000m road crown in 2015. She continued to progress and the following year earned selection to compete in the U20 10km race walk at the 2016 World Race Walking Team Championships in Rome.

“It was amazing,” recalls Laura, who finished 45th in the Italian capital. “The atmosphere of being around so many top race walkers was incredible. Since I was 13 I dreamt of being in this scenario (at an international athletics event) and competing against the world’s best.”

Laura has since racked up five national senior race walk titles and in March added a couple of silver medals, behind Alana, over 3000m and 10,000m at the New Zealand Track & Field Championships in Christchurch. The 22 year old caregiver is still well-short of peak age as a race walker and has long-term ambitions to qualify for the Olympic Games. In the shorter-term however, when the 2020 World Race Walking Team Championships are eventually re-arranged, she wants to achieve some significant goals.

“I’m assuming the event will now be on towards the end of the year and if that happens, I’ll try to produce a good race against some quality opposition,” she says. “I’d love to get a PB (Laura’s current PB is 1:48:58) and I’m aiming for about 1:40 or under.”

Alana Barber – The Leader

Age: 32

PB: 1:31:32

As the standard-bearer of New Zealand women’s race walk Alana Barber fully acknowledges her status as a role model to others. The 11-times New Zealand record holder, 2016 Olympian, and 2018 Commonwealth 20km race walk silver medallist, she boasts a proud record in the sport and is ecstatic to be given the opportunity to lead a three-strong New Zealand women’s team at an international event.

“It’s so exciting to know that there is growth happening in New Zealand race walking,” explains Alana. “We have had a few juniors compete in the past at the World Race Walking Team Championships but we have lacked senior athletes. To see the likes of Laura and Courtney as a part of the senior women’s team is very nice.

“I have lots of experience competing in big events, so I hope to use that experience to help the other girls in the team. I’ve spoken to Athletics NZ about taking on a role as an athlete lead, where I will go to the technical meetings and get the uniforms approved. It will add another dimension to the competition. Yes, I’m there to represent New Zealand but it is not just about me, it is about being a part of a team.”

Given her accomplishments in the sport, it is understandable that Alana has acted as an inspiration to both Courtney and Laura. However, Alana too hopes to gain motivation from the presence of her two younger team mates in Minsk.

“They will offer a fresh perspective,” she explains. “They will see things and experience things for the first time at an elite level and it will be nice to go through that with them. It also helps that the pair are such lovely girls, I couldn’t ask for better personalities to have on the team with me.”

In her two previous appearances, Alana set a New Zealand 20km race walk record in each edition, clocking a time of 1:32:48 in Rome in 2016 (for 26th), and two years later in China setting a mark of 1:31:32 in Taicang (for 23rd). She has many happy memories of the competition and believes the quality of the event coupled with the less draconian qualification standards make it an ideal event for developing athletes to gain international exposure.

“The World Race Walking Team Championships has more depth than other pinnacle events because each nation can send up to five athletes, as opposed to a maximum of three per country at an Olympic Games or World Championships. However, it is not World Athletics but the individual federation that set the standards and this time Athletics NZ have been a lot more lenient” she explains.

Excited to be part of the three-strong team New Zealand she fully intends to make the most of the opportunity in Minsk. “I would like to break my New Zealand record,” she says. “Now the Olympics are in 2021, this is the next big event before Tokyo and it is a chance for me to set the Olympic qualification standard (of 1:31:00).”


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