Gabriel Abraham sets endurance records in walking with poles
I recently learned about Gabriel Abraham, a Spaniard who broke absolute and M-45 Word Records of Ultra Nordic Walking st 30 and 50 miles. His Wikipedia entry alludes to his previous athletic career in “road running, track running and cross-country races.” He was born in 1966, so he’s no longer a kid, which might explain the reason that he, like other runners, picked up poles and started excelling as a Nordic Walking competitor.
There is no indication as to whether he set these records in a race an if so, which?, or whether he was walking by himself with someone was timing him. Department of Unanswered Questions — except maybe for those who read Spanish. If I could, I would know more, at least from the external links on the Wikipedia page, but I don’t. So there you have it: an amazing athlete with a fairly high profile (given his sports) in Spain whom we know virtually nothing about. I invite anyone with more information to leave an enlightening comment. Please.
Hello,
I am Gabriel Abraham. All of my records were done under supervision of Athletics Judges. Other walkers have participated in records.
You can consult World Ranking Nordic Walking website (http://worldrankingnordicwalking.weebly.com). They only accept records supervised by Athletics judges.
Gabriel Abraham
Gabriel – I am thrilled that you found this post (Google Alert, perhaps?) and explained a little more. I am incredibly impressed by your accomplishments, but since I don’t read Spanish, only gleaned a little informationfrom your website and had no idea of the context in which these records were set. I appreciate the clarification. If I knew enough Spanish, Polish or any other language of Nordic Walking champions to get even that far, I’m sure I would invent some words or phrases that you or others would smile at.
[...] my recent post about the remarkable Gabriel Abraham and his recent Nordic Walking records for various distances, [...]
Claire,
thank you for your explanations about the word ‘picturesquely’.
Since 2009 to 2011, my training has been based principally in Nordic Walking. I have made a great effort walking almost 120-140 km every week before records. It has been hard.
Thank you for your support.
I’m at your disposal.
Best regards,
Gabriel Abraham
Estimada Claire,
Gabriel Abraham es un atleta serio que viene del atletismo, al igual que yo.
Sus registros mundiales y los míos han sido supervisados por jueces de atletismo. Nosotros no reconocemos a los atletas que establecen registros con instructores de nordic walking, porque son incapaces de determinar quién corre o establece irregularidades con el bastón, no tienen la formación necesaria.
Somos muchos los atletas que estamos luchando para conseguir que el nordic walking sea también competitivo y con unas reglas iguales para todos, independientemente de la técnica de nordic walking que se utilice.
La persona que lleva el ranking mundial es Mr.Klein de EEUU. Da la casualidad que a usted la conoce (creo que son amigos).
Mi nombre es Bernabé Rodríguez, hace poco he estado en el maratón de Portland, dónde me he proclamado world champion nordic walking, siendo el primer europeo que lo consigue.
Sigo su blog en España desde hace años.
Un saludo.
I’ve approved Senor Rodriguez’s comment even tho’ I’m afraid I do really understand it. At least I’m confident that it isn’t spam.
Here’ s a rough translation of his comment:
“Dear Claire,
Gabriel Abraham is a reputable athlete with an athletic career, and so am i. All of his records and all of my records were done under supervision of Athletics Judges. We don’t trust people whose records were set up by nordic walking’s instructors, because those people don’t have enough training to determine if someone run or if someone is doing irregularities with the stick.
There are a large group of athletes fighting to achieve a nordic walking with competitiveness and equals rules for everyone.
The person in charge of the mundial ranking is Mr.Klein, from the States. In fact, you know him/her*, i think he/she is a friend of you. I’ m Bernabé Rodríguez. I recently went to Portland ‘s marathon, where i won the world champion nordic walking, being the first european man to achieve this.
I have been enjoying your blog for years.
—————————————————–
*In spanish, accussatuve pronouns don’t have gender. And i don’ t know if that person is a man or a woman.
I hope that helps
Anonymous Spaniard – Thank you for translating. Grabiel Abraham contacted me after original post, and we have been in touch. He was able to clarify what I had not been able to to puzzle out from the original online source. All I had to go on was a photo of a very fit and learn Nordic Walker (but not wearing a race number) and his claim that he was a world record-holder with no further details, including who or which organization verified the record. He explained and Bernabé Rodriguez explained more, and thanks to you, I now know what his explanation was.
Your translation also reminded me about the Portland Marathon, which I had written about in the past and whose Nordic Walking rules I helped vet — not as a competitor but as a communicator. The 2011 Portland Marathon results page (https://www.runraceresults.com/secure/raceresults.cfm?id=RCAG2011) did not even include Nordic Walking. It is another indication of the challenge Nordic Walking competitors face. Good luck to all who are trying to help the sport achieve greater visibility and acceptance in the international atheltic community.