Mike SciaccaSometimes not being at your best...

Mike Sciacca

Sometimes not being at your best can prove to be more than good

enough.

That was the case with Chris Rael when he competed in mid-February

at the 50-kilometer Race Walking National Championships in Clermont,

Fla.

The Huntington Beach resident was among the leaders that day, his

stride helping him maintain a sixth-place standing throughout much of

the event.

He ended up in eighth-place, injured shin and all, and that finish

earned him a coveted spot on the eight-member 2005 National

50-kilometer Racewalk team.

At 45, Rael is one of the oldest members to compete at the elite

level, and he will now compete for the USA at various competitions in

the upcoming season.

“It’s an honor to make the team, but I wasn’t even close to

achieving my best,” said Rael, who finished the Florida race, which

attracts the finest 50-kilometer walkers in the country, in five

hours and 15 minutes.

His personal best in a race is 4:40.

“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “The goal of every

national-class race walker is to make the national team. It is very

competitive, so if you make the team, it means you have accomplished

something very few people can.

“For me, personally, it is the validation that everything I did in

training was right. All the sacrifices, all the pain and effort, all

the years of ups and downs, have paid off. And now, I’m looking

forward to even better races for this upcoming year.”

Philip Dunn, who met Rael at the 1991 U.S. Olympic Festival in Los

Angeles, recalls Rael as being determined and dedicated in his

pursuit of a 50-kilometers, which he says is a “tough race distance.”

“Chris is one of those rare athletes who has incredible

perseverance,” said Dunn, who competed for the U.S. team in the 50

kilometers at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, and is a five-time

national champion. “He may not win a gold medal, but he more than

makes up for it with determination and hard work.

“He also knows how to have a good time. Anyone who meets Chris

will tell you that he is the most friendly, down-to-earth guy you

could meet. I always give Chris a little credit for introducing me to

the 50K because he was the first real 50K walker that I met. I guess

I thought he was just cool enough and just crazy enough, to want to

emulate.”

Rael, a resource specialist in the special education department at

Santa Ana High, has been involved with race walking for the past 30

years. He trains 10 miles each day, with weekend training taking

between 20 and 22 hours.

His favorite local spot to train, he says, is the Bolsa Chica

Wetlands -- starting at the bridge and walking along Pacific Coast

Highway until it takes him to a trail that leads to the back woods

and canal.

“It’s a beautiful walk,” he said. “I’ve seen coyotes -- they

follow me sometimes -- many different species of birds and ducks, and

it’s nice just to be out in nature instead of running on a city

street.

“When I come back up the trail, it is usually around sunset so I

get these fantastic views from atop the cliffs of the sun setting

into the ocean. It’s beautiful and inspiring.”

Race walking has been an Olympic medal sport since the 1932 Los

Angeles Olympics. The solitude of the sport, Rael said, allows for

much thought, but the high is appealing and the challenge, rewarding.

“After you’re on a walk for an hour, there is no more pain, you’re

just floating,” he said. “It’s just so graceful and natural.”

A race walking competition is held on a circle-type loop, a

2-kilometer loop, Rael said, with five judges stationed around the

course.

One foot must be on the ground at all times. If both feet come off

at once, it is referred to as, “floating.”

When a walker extends one leg in front of the body, and that leg

passes under the body to support it, that leg must be “stretched

out.” If it is not, that is called “creeping.”

Both will draw a runner a warning card. Three card warnings means

disqualification.

Rael has never been disqualified.

“It’s all about the form,” he said. “It sounds simple, but it

takes a lot of focus.”

This upcoming competition slate for the 2005 National 50-kilometer

Race Walk Team members includes the World Championships in Helsinki,

Finland; the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru; and a five-event Race

Walking Grand Prix, which begins with a competition in this month in

Tijuana, Mexico.

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 966-4611 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.