Would the world's speed-walking champion run if attacked by a Samurai?

Last October I fulfilled a dream I'd long had by running a marathon - the Dublin marathon.

I ran at an average of just over 8 minutes per mile (eventually finishing in 3 hours 40 minutes). At that speed you don't get to see anyone stopping to walk until people start hitting the "wall" at around 20 miles. Except for one man dressed in red who I saw a bit at around 16 miles who, much to my puzzlement, appeared to be going at the same pace as me despite walking. It was a bit unnerving at first - you've kept up your intended pace for over two hours, and then someone walks past you! Or at least, he looked like he was walking - it was rather a strange style; he was moving at a good pace, but I couldn't see that his feet were leaving the ground! I saw him for the last time when he stopped to stretch his muscles - I presume he got cramp.

This got me interested in the curious "sport" of speed walking. And eventually, I came across this amusing little video...

"Would the world's speed-walking champion run if attacked by a Samurai?"
http://tvinjapan.com/blog/2007/10/29/would-the-worlds-speed-walking-champion-run-if-attacked-by-samurai/