Dear pedestrians, walkers, supporters and fanatics of Race Walking.

We have a year full of big changes, improvisations, efforts and disappointments from unrealized races and the joys of those that succeeded. We have a year of even greater changes ahead of us, the regrouping of forces in world athletics, changes in walking trails, the Olympics at another time, different training and racing during the pandemic, and a change in the economy and above all a change in what we considered to be our firm order and world.

In these changes, it deserves maximum recognition of the group's relentless activity Smola chůze led by Pepa Smola and Hoza Reine, the latest proof is the organization of a Christmas race in Prague at the AC Prague Stadium, unfortunately again canceled due to Covid-19. And they have done all this and are doing it without their own calls from the ČAS bodies, without the Competition and other commissions. And take a look at a working and vibrant site Smola Chůze! I think it shows how viable small active groups are and how powerless traditional structures that work under normal conditions are. This is not only true for sports.

This year, Poděbrady Walking managed to catch up on the last day, the races on Saturday, the departure on Sunday and the already popular race ban on Monday. Much has been written about this world-class organization and great performance. In Slovakia, on a much smaller scale, but with the world performance of Matěj Tóth, we managed to perform Dudinská 50 and before the end of the XNUMXth season in Trnava, where after many years our team of XNUMXs gave performances we had only dreamed of for many years.

Despite all the limitations, the Czech top walking team went up in terms of performance, it is no longer just about Anežka Drahotová or just about women, others are finally sitting down and young people but also top veterans can be seen behind them. Just look at the Pedestrian of the Year poll on this site. 

Behind this is Ivoš Piták's professionalism and support Smola chůze also the role of Katka Čermáková in the ČAS Coaching Board, where she does not have an easy role at all. And we must not forget the other devotees and supports, I want to name at least Dr. Petr Brandejský for all of them.

Sport, and especially endurance disciplines, are a concentrated model of life. It is a rather tough model, where nothing can be seduced in the long run by others, by adversity, by the referee. The comparison of performance is clear. Without honest work, there is simply no honest performance. And unfortunately, this equation does not apply unconditionally, meaning that honest training work automatically equals good performance. It's just a necessary condition, nothing more. There are so many factors, so many unknown limits of function, that it often happens that despite great training training, performance fails. It is also a model full of conflicts, conflicts of will and body, vision and the surrounding world, which ignores the vision or is afraid of it. It's the same as in life, but we have plenty of time for it and not one year.

In this model, success and failure are immediately visible, after each season, after each race. It is not possible to get around in Czech, okecat, bend, even though many people are still trying. This model also shows every helping hand and head for our discipline, as I wrote at the beginning about positive cases. Likewise, unfortunately, there are visible and damaging cases of negative, ill will, or just clinging to a function for herself, without real help and invention for our discipline. 

A strange Olympic year awaits us with a big question mark, in our conditions the European Team Walking Championship in Poděbrady, also with a big pandemic question mark. I would very much like these peaks of the season to take place and the necessary number of other races, from veteran, youth to the M-CR.

Let me wish you and your loved ones negative tests and a positive mood in the New Year 2021. And a clear direction, adherence to the rules, no stay in the criminal zone, no DQ during the race, let alone in professional or private life.

Mila Lapka