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Race Walking Books

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This page is set aside for scans of old racewalking books that are out of print and no longer available.

Be patient - some of these are big files and will take a few minutes to download.

1909	Larner's Text Book on Walking	George Larner's 1909 classic, titled Larner's Text Book On Walking. Written the year after he won golds in both walks at the 1908 Olympics, it is now considered as the first serious book on racewalking.
1911	Race Walking A Primer of the Sport by Hugh. W. Innes	This is indeed a collector's item, a primer of the sport of Race Walking, written by Hugh W. Innes and published in London in 1911. This book attempted to tell all there was to know about the science and the history of race walking in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is 93 pages, measures 7 inches by 5 inches and has a hard green cover. Like other books of the period, it comes with many print advertisements for health foods and with many old photographs of race walkers and pedestrians. Copies can be found for purchase but at a premium price.
1929	Le sport de la Marche	This one from Emmanuel Tardi and dating from 1929. Time to dust up on your French!
1975	A Brief History of Race Walking by Robert Osterhoust	An excellent history of racewalking, up till 1975 when this book was published by the Associate Professor of PE at the University of Minnesota.
1976	Race Walking by Julian Hopkins	A comprehensive racewalking training manual by Julian Hopkins who was at that time the UK Head Coach, Racewalking.
1979	Olympic Heroes Vladimir Golubnichiy	One of a series of Russian publications focusing on the Olympic Heroes. I suspect I have the only copy in Australia! Stop press: George White of Adelaide tells me he also has a copy!
2014	A Hundred Years Afoot by Peter Cassidy	A Hundred Years Afoot – a Celebration of a Century of Race Walking was published by the Race Walking Association at Shenfield, England, in 2014. Editor Peter Cassidy has kindly sent me an electronic copy to add to our VRWC book archive. Copyright: please note that the book A Hundred Years Afoot; A Celebration of a Century of Race Walking is protected by copyright, which extends to this electronic copy. However, as indicated on page xvi, the Race Walking Association and the Editor are happy to see it used for the benefit of the sport, and no action is likely to be taken in the case of such fair use; an acknowledgement of the source, however, would be appreciated. Comments may also be sent to him by email at: Peter.Cassidy@btinternet.com