I have a growing curiosity of the trail and fell running scenes. In both of these disciples they don't even refer to walking as anything but walking. It is accepted, normal, widespread and carries no stigma of any kind.
In racing terms, you would hear reference to "Fell racing" - often there's not a lot of running going on! Walking is an entirely accepted part of fell running and racing. Often routes have sections that most people cannot run, either because it is too steep, a bit too steep for too long, too technical or just a bit knackering (also people like me who find technical
downhill really hard). There's always someone who can just smash up and down, but you'd be amazed at the ability spread in races, in addition to the age spread. Our local races have a prize for every single category (male & female of all the youth categories, open, 40+, 50+, 60+, 70+ and 80+) so people can win prizes who took literally twice as long as the outright winner.
A lot of fell & trail runners are people who like being outdoors all the time anyway. There's a type of fell running that is basically just a slightly faster version of hiking which allows a slightly longer distance. Loads of people walk up but run downhill.
