runner's world

as a not-very-fast runner, i gaze in great wonder at the straight-postured, stick-up-the-middle race walkers i see coursing along on my daily routes. the entire sport, if one can call it that, seems born of frustration and denial. don't their bodies ever tell them to just cut loose and run?

fortunately, japanese television (via boingboing.net) is addressing the central question: would world-champion race-walkers run when chased by, say, an anachronistic but nonetheless frightening posse of marauding sword-wielding samurai? it takes a couple minutes to learn the answer, but (in my humble) the answer is quite definitive and well worth the investment.