Yamanishi Toshikazu broke the world record when he finished the men’s 20-kilometer race walk in Kobe last Saturday. His time was 1 hour, 16 minutes and 10 seconds. That means that he was walking 15.8 kilometers per hour! That is much faster than the average walking speed of 5 kph for a man of Yamanishi’s age. Race walking looks like running, but the walkers must always have one foot touching the ground, and they must keep the front leg straight. This is different from running. When you run, you bend both legs and your feet come off the ground. Try walking as fast as you can for one kilometer and measure your time. How fast can you walk? (118 words)

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