The British Grand Prix of Race Walking is set to take place at Leeds Beckett Athletics Centre at Leeds Beckett University this weekend. The event incorporates the UKA Championships and the England Athletics Championships over 20,000m for Seniors and Under 23’s and 10,000m for under 20’s.

With the event moving to the track this year it provides an opportunity for Bethan Davies (Andi Drake) and Heather Warner (Chris Jones) to attack Davies’s current UK Record of 96:39.70 set in 2015 at Bedford. Davies and Warner will be looking to build on solid performances in the recent European Race Waling Team Championships staged in Podebrady. Warner was 26^th in the 20km in 98.13 and Davies was 14^th in the 35km in 3.00.13. Warner is currently top of the British rankings over 20km for 2023 when clocking 96.04 in Warsaw, Poland in April ahead of Davies 99.38.

Also competing over 20,000m will be British Indoor Champion Abigail Jennings (Verity Snook) who will be looking to target her personal best of 1.46.19 set in 2022, Erika Kelly (Tom Craggs), and under 23 athlete Pagen Spooner (Andi Drake) who is making her debut over 20,000m/20km distance.

In the Men’s 20,000m, Chris Snook (Andi Drake) will be looking to put a disappointing DNF in Warsaw in April behind him. He will be targeting his personal best of 87.56 set in Dublin last December.

In the Under 20 Women’s 10,000m event Gracie Griffiths has personal bests of 52.09.30 in Coventry in March and 53.30 on the road in Warsaw in April and will be looking to build on this great start to her career over the  distance. In the Junior Men’s 10,000m Jonathan Ellerton (Noel Carmody) will be looking to beat his personal best of  57.03.40 set in Coventry in March and the 56.17 set on the road in the RWA Championships in April.

The event is being supported by England Athletics, British Athletics, British Athletics Supporters Club, Carnegie School of Sport, West Yorkshire Schools Athletics Association and the National Centre for Race Walking.

The action gets under way at 16.00 and is free for spectators at the Leeds Beckett Athletics Centre, Headingley Campus, Leeds. The event will be proceeded by the West Yorkshire Schools Track and Field Championship from 10.30. Follow live updates on Twitter @leedswalk