Photo courtesy of Healthy New Albany
It’s the number one New Albany athletic event of the season, but you won’t see anyone running to the starting line.
Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany, Phil Heit used to be a running junkie. He was one of the first to run the Central Park Marathon in New York City and dedicated many years participating in races.
“My training runs would be three hours,” Heit says. “I used to run marathons – 26 miles. I can’t imagine it anymore!”
So, when his doctors told him that, due to some injuries, Heit shouldn’t run anymore, it was devastating. He recalls driving home, holding back tears.
“I said, ‘Okay, you’re telling me not to run?,’” Heit says, recalling that day. “Then I went home, put on my running shoes, and started to walk as far and as fast as I could.”
Once he realized that walking was giving him the same good feeling that running did, he continued to walk faster and farther. Eventually, people began walking with him. With that, he created the New Albany Walking Club. From there, the idea surfaced to put together something so much bigger – an athletic event now in its 15th year.
The New Albany Walking Classic is quite possibly the only one of its kind in the country: an event established for the love of walking and competition. Athletes from all around come to participate, including Olympic walkers. The 10K (6.21 miles) begins on Market Square and winds throughout the New Albany community. It’s challenging for some who aren’t used to walking long distances.
“I tell people who are just getting started to get out there and walk to get a baseline of how far you can walk,” Heit says. “And then you increase your mileage, no more than 10 percent a week.”
Photo courtesy of Healthy New Albany
New Albany Walking Classic
Fuel Up for the 2019 Walk
What’s the ideal breakfast of champions? It’s different for everyone. While some people opt for no food prior to a race, Heit recommends having at least something several hours before the race for fuel.
“Have half a bagel with peanut butter or a nutrition bar. I make sure I’m hydrated, so I have lots of water about two hours before the race,” he says.
Heit’s advice is certainly reputable; in his many years of running he racked up a ton of training knowledge. When he first began running, Heit happened to know one of the first-place finishers in the Boston Marathon, who gladly told him the tips to running a marathon – which he said would take three years to learn.
“I used to think that was a joke – I mean I thought it was just running,” Heit recalls. “One of the things I learned was that, for me, he was right. There is a thing about learning your pace and about what you can endure.”
For the big 15th milestone, Heit is looking forward to a beautiful race day, considering last year it was cancelled because of the remnants of hurricane Gordon in Florida. The morning of the 2018 Walk, rain pounded down in buckets and the conditions were too unsafe to have walkers and volunteers out on the course. That didn’t keep walkers from having a good time, though.
“On the spot, we decided to turn it into a giant dance party,” Heit says. “We brought everyone into the Philip Heit Center, set up a DJ and brought all the vendors inside – it was so much fun.”
As we chatted about his running days (OK – it was mostly me picking his brain for training tips) it was easy to see how much the Walking Classic really means to Heit, a diehard athlete at heart. While he’s had his success in marathons, evident by the vintage, racing shirts hanging above his desk, he wants others to feel how he felt running but with walking.
“I love charities, and 100 percent of the proceeds go to a nonprofit, but I treat the walk as an athletic event,” Heit explains. “These people are athletes, not fundraisers. The charity is you, and I want you to do it for your wellbeing.”
Mallory Arnold is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at marnold@cityscenemediagroup.com.
