Caye Poe of Dayton joined Wonders of Walking a year ago to train for the Portland Marathon. She did the marathon, and in December she and her husband John flew to India to teach at: Kodaikanal International School. She'll return to Oregon this summer, but in the meantime sends this report on her race walking in India.

One rule of racewalking in India, you find out quickly:

cows have the right-of-way.

          I was walking at a brisk pace around our town's lake on a raised walkway when I saw a cow sauntering ahead of me. Cows have it very good in India; they walk anywhere, eat anything they wish, and are calmly indifferent to traffic. If a cow feels like lying down in the middle of a busy road to chew its cud, it does so, and the normally aggressive Indian drivers will make a detour around it.

In my case, the cow decided it did not want to share the walkway with a racewalker and when I was even with its horns, it swung its head against me, knocked me into the road, and continued contentedly along the walkway, having taught me proper Indian manners.

          I've been racewalking around the small lake in Kodaikanal since arriving. It's a 6 km. route, and the Indian crowds seem quietly amused at the sight of me striding along purposefully, in my long pants and long sleeved shirt.  The lake is a tourist destination (at 7,000 feet) with lots of vendors who do everything from rent horses to peddle Sai Baba t-shirts.  (Sai Baba is a major Indian guru who has a large summer home here that's constantly surrounded by throngs of adherents) Most tourists do not know how to ride a horse so they ride in the saddle and one of the vendors rides in front on a bicycle leading the horse.  Recently when I kept pace with one of these horse/bikers the guy yelled across to me that I was going 1 horse power. 

The most amazing walkers are the women wood carriers who return from the hills every afternoon with large bundles of sticks and branches on their heads. They are lean, hard women (seldom do you see a man). They're often in bare feet, and they glide smoothly past. I tried keeping up with them and really had to work just to stay even.  They use the race walking swing of the hips, but one hand is always balancing the heavy load on their head. They are amazing workers walking about 10K into the hills, cutting wood all day, and then carrying back a bundle I doubt I could even lift. Then they have to find a buyer and sell their wood for about 100 rupee (two dollars). It's a hard life, and I'm sure there's not much self-congratulation for being a fast walker when you have to do it just to survive.

          Another aspect of India I didn't expect was not being able to purchase walking shoes.  I bought a semi-athletic-looking pair, but, when I lifted up the insoles I found pieces of wood as foundation.  I later found a pair of Nike knockoffs that were serviceable.  Most women wear sandals or go barefoot which, for my American feet, isn't an option.  I have found walking in cow poop to be quite slippery.

          I will be home soon with a new appreciation for washing machines, coffee pots, microwave ovens, and a real stove.  A Starbucks caramel machiato is first on my list.  I hope to meet all of you at a walking event when we get back. Meanwhile, check out our blog site: johnandcaye.blogspot.com.

                                                                              Caye Poe

My friend and I were training for my first ½ marathon and were meeting early every Saturday morning last winter. We were walking the Springwater Corridor trail between OMSI and Oaks Park.  Even on an uneventful day, this walk is wonderful with a view of the river and of the wetlands.  On this particular day, we noticed a father and his daughter looking at a pond with their telescope.  We stopped to see what they were looking and they pointed out to large river otters playing in the pond.  The little girl let us look at them through her telescope which was just awesome.  They seemed closed enough to touch.  It was the highpoint of our training walks.

                                                                             Jenny Weller

Back in 2000, I was walking a marathon in Kona Hawaii. It was very warm, and almost two-thirds of the way through, when I came behind an older gentleman who was having some difficulty. His personal trainer was walking beside him. I could hear the gentleman say he wasn't going to be able to finish. Then, I realized that he was from the organization raising funds for stroke victims. He was one of the victims. I patted him on the back, told him he couldn't give up after having gone this far, and that he was doing something marvelous. I not only got teary-eyed saying that, but when he crossed the finish line, the whole crowd of several hundred people were in tears to see what he had accomplished - a stroke victim walking 26.2 miles!! 

                                                                              Kay Pearson