At the 2023 New Balance indoor Nationals OA senior, known as Hobie Sobieraj, placed 5th in the boys 1 mile racewalk. He placed with a time of 8:42.08 classifying him as an All American in racewalking.
¨I started race walking during this previous indoor track and field season¨ says Hobie. After his injury this year, Hobie had to find a new sport to compete in at nationals. He looked to race walking as it ¨is one of the least impactful activities on the body¨. Hobie soon competed in his first race and he states that the race ¨helped me get the time I needed to make it to nationals¨.
After making Nationals Hobie had to train hard to learn this new sport. He had to retrain his body and use the correct form, in order to succeed at nationals.
Hobie says ¨I trained a lot on the treadmill at first; I really focused on developing the form during this time¨. Race walking was a whole new sport for Hobie, it took a lot of training to transition into this new sport. ¨As the weather got warmer, I started getting outside and doing workouts¨ he said. Hobie had to practice his stride and figure out his race pace for nationals.
As Hobie was able to train outside he got to reach his full potential. Hobie trained harder and harder as Nations got closer and was able to really improve.
Hobie says ¨Going into the race I was not seeded to place high¨ because it was based on his first race time of 9:11. Hobie new that with all his training he could get a better time than his current one. Hobie´s goal for nations he said was ¨I wanted to try and place top 6 to get All-American¨. The race was tactical and hard at first, but Hobie says ¨I had made a move with 160 meters to go that moved me into 5th place to reach my goal¨. This moved changed the whole race as Hobie placed 5th and became an all american in race walking. ¨I was stoked with the outcome and never though I would make it to nationals, none the less place 5th¨ he says.
Hobie finished the season as 7th in the country and is now training for outdoor track. He hopes to learning more and improve for his next season.