Karen Saul
Garner and Saul, L to R
In the 2024 New Albany Walking Classic, Heather Garner and Karen Saul finished in fourth and fifth place for women, crossing the finish line only 13 seconds apart.
Saul is an accomplished competitive race walker and the winner in the women’s division of the 2022 New Albany Walking Classic® Half Marathon and the 2023 New Albany Walking Classic® 5K. Garner, on the other hand, had never competed in a race when she signed up in 2023.
However, on race day, Garner walked up to the start line with a goal – to beat Saul’s 2023 winning time of 36:34.
A self-proclaimed “orchestra nerd,” Garner’s brass came in the form of trumpets and trombones instead of gold medals. However, when she saw an article from Healthy New Albany Inc. featuring Karen Saul and her consecutive wins, inspiration struck.
“When I saw the article about Karen, my husband looked up the (winning) time from the year prior and said, ‘You know, you should try and get that,’” Garner says. “Her time was really what I was reaching for.”
Striding to victory
Although Garner had never formerly competed in a race, walking has always been part of her routine. As founder and executive director of the New Albany Symphony Orchestra, walking gives Garner time to listen to music and strategize for upcoming programs.
“It clears my mind, and I do a lot of thinking when I’m walking,” Garner says. “It’s when I do a lot of my work: my mind work.”
While Garner’s daily walks are for leisure, she’s a quick walker by nature. Her typical pace teeters around a 13-minute mile, which is about 4.6 miles per hour. However, to achieve her goal of beating Saul’s previous pace, Garner needed to kick things up a notch.
Garner did not have a set training plan, but she timed herself a few times throughout the summer to see if she was on par to beat Saul’s time.
“She didn’t know it, but she was my pace setter all summer,” Garner says.
Race day
Karen Saul
As Garner waited for the shotgun start, she was filled with nerves.
“I had butterflies in my stomach when it was time to start, and I thought I was going to throw up,” Garner says. “It was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.”
As Garner eagerly waited behind the start line, she spotted Saul. Five minutes before the race began, she approached Saul, introduced herself and explained how Saul’s story inspired her to compete.
“That morning, she was so sweet,” Garner says. “I didn’t know where to stand in line. I really didn’t know anything, and she took me under her wing.”
As the clock ticked down, the two racers quickly chatted and exchanged motivational messages. Then they were off.
“We weren’t necessarily going to walk together,” Saul says. “And then, before I know it, we were both next to each other.”
The two completed much of the race side by side, cheering on one another through each mile.
“As we started to come to the end, I knew how much that meant to her and me,” Saul says. “In the final stretch, I told her, ‘Go for it. Go all out as much as you want. And she did.’”
In the end, Garner finished first in her age group, with a time of 36:13, and Saul finished just seconds behind her, with a time of 36:26.
Building bonds
Since competing in the walk together, the two have become fast friends. Saul has attended Orchestra concerts with her husband, and the two have kept in contact throughout the year.
“She just seems like she’s been a friend of mine for my whole life,” Garner says. “She’s one of those types of people.”
Saul has traveled across the country for race walking, but the bonds she has built with the community through the Classic keep her coming back to New Albany year after year. From volunteers to friends made along the course, the draw of the Classic extends far beyond the New Albany neighborhood.
“I tell everybody about it,” Saul says. “I mean, what a wonderful thing to be able to have in our community to showcase to the world.”
Competitive Walker
Karen Saul
Saul discovered her love of race walking in 2005 when the Classic first started and has competed nearly every year since its inception. When the Classic introduced the half marathon for the first time, Saul won first place for women.
“I cried, I just was elated and blown away,” Saul says. “And it’s right in my backyard.”
After her half marathon win, she decided to pursue competitive race walking.
“The Classic definitely was (something) that inspired me to do it as a competition,” Saul says.
Speed walking, or race walking, is a fast-paced sport where one foot must stay in contact with the ground and the front leg must stay straight. Athletes use quick strides and a distinctive hip motion to maintain speed while following these rules.
The mechanics of speed walking rely on maintaining constant ground contact and keeping the leading leg straight until it passes under the body. To generate speed, walkers use rapid, short steps and a pronounced hip rotation to increase stride length without breaking form.
Saul currently competes with her team, Amp Up Sports, where she travels to participate in USA Track and Field competitions. In July of 2024, Amp Up Sports placed 10th out of 300 teams at the USATF National Championship.
Megan Brokamp is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mbrokamp@cityscenemediagroup.com.
