I did 'the walk' at some stage in school and I recall it is actually quite hard. As far as I remember the thing is that you must keep at least part of one foot on the ground at all times (or else you would be running). Doing this at any kind of speed involves building up a rhythm and sticking to it - lose the rhythm and you lose a lot of speed and position.
The thing with this as a distance sport is that I don't know how compliance with the rule is monitored over long distances.
Anyway, analyse almost any sport and you will ultimately come to the conclusion that it's a bit dumb and wouldn't people be better off doing something a little more productive with their time. I mean, what is the story with the discus ? Javelin I can see had a point at some stage when throwing sharp things at moving food was a good skill to have, but throwing a blunt roundy thing not as far . . .
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