Racewalker Catches Up After a Late Start

Sipping iced tea in an air-conditioned coffee shop, Jill Latham would rather be outside sweating, logging in more miles before the temperature dips below 80 degrees. Because Fresno is the site of the racewalker’s next competition, Latham doesn’t want to get used to air conditioning.

“I was out there this morning and I want to go out again and do some more in the heat,” said Latham, breaking just long enough between workouts to display her collection of trophies and plaques, accumulated in a year of racewalking.

At 50, Latham of Panorama City is fast becoming obsessed with racewalking, a fluid squirming of the arms, legs and hips resembling a fast walk or slow jog. A friend introduced the sport to Latham, whose first race was the 1986 L.A. Marathon.

“I signed up for it but I had no idea it was 26 miles,” Latham said. “It took me six hours and 26 minutes to finish and I couldn’t walk for three weeks.”

Latham cut 1:13 off her time in her second L.A. Marathon while winning the master’s division, for women 40 and older. She clocked a personal-best 5:11 in a Lompoc marathon last month.

Latham also set a national record of 6:24 in the U.S. TAC National 50K Racewalking Championships in Carmel last February. Her goal is to compete in an international master’s racewalking event in Melbourne, Australia, Nov. 28-Dec. 6.

“You can do a lot in a year and the year’s still not over,” she said. “I love marathons and feel stronger racing the longer distances. The 5K, 10K and 20K are nothing to me, just not challenging.

“My big dream is to do a 100K (62 miles). A 100K would take nearly all day just to finish, but it would be challenging and I’m always up for a new challenge.”

Latham’s next challenge will be this weekend’s Western Regional 5K and 20K Championships in Fresno, where she will vie for a spot in next month’s national championships in Eugene, Ore.

She qualified for the regionals by winning her division at the Senior Women’s National 20K Championships at Cal State Long Beach in May. Latham’s winning time of 2:14.03 boosted her club, the Walkers Club of Los Angeles, to a second-place finish.

But Latham has earned more than medals through racewalking. The Brighton, England, native has taken 30 pounds off her 5-foot-3 1/2 frame and garnered recognition from judges and other women on her “technique.”

“It’s much harder than running in the beginning because you have to go through a lot of pain,” she said. “It takes about six months to learn the technique and then it’s great. I haven’t had any back pain in a year and I feel like I’m 20 years younger.”

When Latham is racewalking, the rapid twisting of her hips attracts more than just the attention of the judges.

“I’ve had guys pull up and follow me or give me cat whistles. I just smile and say to myself, ‘OK, you’ve had your look, now go on.’ ”

Latham logs 10 to 15 miles of daily racewalking around Balboa Park and on Foothill Boulevard in Sunland. She also works out with her club every Tuesday night at either Caltech or the Rose Bowl.

Latham trains alone, but gets encouragement from her husband and two daughters, whom she is trying to recruit into the sport.

“My husband didn’t like it at first,” she says, “but now he pushes me out of the bed and tells me to go, go.”