Evan Dunfee says Canadian film 'Racewalkers' is in on the joke, 'not the butt of the joke'

A reigning world champion in race walking is teaching a cast of Hollywood stars to walk the walk for the Olympic sport at the heart of a new Canadian comedy.

Richmond, B.C.'s Evan Dunfee is an Olympic bronze medallist and a Commonwealth Games gold medallist in race walking — a niche sport that steps into the spotlight in the new film Racewalkers, hitting theatres on Friday.

Dunfee worked as a consultant on the movie, which is about a former baseball pitcher, played by Kevin Claydon, who gets recruited for his perfect walking form and begins training to qualify for the Olympic race walking event.

"From the very beginning, it was, 'Look, race walking is part of the joke. It's in on the joke, but it's not the butt of the joke.' And I immediately appreciated that, and saw what they're trying do and was fully on board to help," Dunfee said in a video interview from Calgary.

Claydon co-directed, co-wrote and co-stars in the film alongside Phil Moniz. Together, their characters ambitiously challenge the sport's egotistical father-son duo, portrayed by Robbie Amell and Greg Bryk — the latter, as the son's coach, relives his former glory vicariously through his child.

Claydon and Moniz, who are both from Toronto, said that while researching, they saw how great of an athlete you need to be to become a champion and how difficult the sport is. During pre-production, they reached out to members of the race walking community to read the script, as they didn't want to "punch down" at the sport.

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"We just wanted to make sure that we treated it, and the community and those