Elaina Eakle
ehe001@marietta.edu
David Torbett’s official title at Marietta College is Molly C. Putnam professor of religion and history. Yet unbeknown to many of his students, when he is not teaching or researching, Torbett is involved in competitive race walking.
Race walking is an athletic event that differs from running in that walkers must have one foot in contact with the ground at all times.
“My wife tried it one time, and she got an age group trophy, and my son also did, and so I said, ‘I think I’ll try that one time,’” Torbett said. “I learned some more about it, and I learned how to do it properly and I bought a book on it. I learned what the actual USATF [USA Track and Field] rules are.”
Torbett also received help from Donna Graham, the walk coordinator for the River City Runners & Walkers Club. Graham competes nationally and internationally in race walking, and is a certified USATF race walking official and judge.
“I noticed Dr. Torbett at an RSVP race in Marietta about five or six years ago,” she said. “I thought he had potential as a good walker, but he needed some help… It didn’t take him long to learn that he needed someone who was familiar with the sport to watch him, offer constructive criticism, and tweak his race walking technique and form.”
Graham said that Torbett’s race walking has improved greatly since he began.
“Dr. Torbett has been a great student, and he wants to learn,” she said. “He has become one of our best male walkers, and he is very fast… He works hard to achieve his race walking goals.”
As Torbett’s race walking improved, he achieved his goal of successfully participating in a judged event in 2013 – the USATF Masters national competition in Kingsport, Tenn., Torbett’s hometown.
“I finished right in the middle, which is what I hoped to do,” he said.
In the summer, he will compete in the Senior Games, a national competition in Minneapolis, Minn., alongside Graham.
For Torbett, race walking proved that he could do things he never thought he could.
“I was in my mid 40s when I first tried it,” he said. “I was never athletic, and I just thought ‘It’s got to be simple; what’s more simple than walking?’
Race walking was more difficult for Torbett than he thought, but he has enjoyed the challenge.
“When you learn something new, you feel energized and you feel young,” he said. “It’s never too late to learn something new, or something you don’t think you’re good at.”
Senior Brianna Scott was impressed by his race walking skills, which she learned about her freshman year, and felt that learning more about Torbett improved her relationship with him as a professor.
“I was in a class with a few seniors who had gotten to know him over the years, and they convinced him to show our class the proper [race] walking technique,” she said. “It was one of my favorite memories I’ve had from his classes, and learning about his hobby made us as a class grow closer and open up more during discussion.”
As Torbett heads to Minneapolis this summer to compete in the Senior Games, he will have many of his students cheering him on.
