Müller British Athletics Marathon and 20km Race Walk Trials

The stage is set for the Müller British Athletics Marathon and 20km Walk Trials on Friday 26th March.

The event, which is the official trial for the marathon and 20km race walks for the Tokyo Olympic Games, gets underway on the British Athletics YouTube page at 6am with the men’s and women’s 20km race walks. Then, from 8am, the men’s and women’s marathon will get underway which will also be shown on the BBC Sport website and the BBC iPlayer.

The event is the Official Trial for the Olympic Games marathon and 20km race walk with the first two placed eligible athletes in each individual trial event, who hold an Olympic qualifying standard, earning automatic selection for Tokyo.

Ben Connor (Derby) heads the men’s marathon field having gone inside the Olympic qualifying standard with a time of 2:11.20 at the Virgin Money London Marathon last October. He will be seeking one of the top two positions to earn automatic selection for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Dewi Griffiths (Kevin Evans; Swansea) will be among those who will also be chasing the qualifying standard at the event having posted a 2019 best of 2:11.46; his PB stands at 2:09.49 from 2017 so he is the fastest in the fields based on all-time bests.

Tom Evans (Andrew Hobdell; Lewes), Josh Griffiths (Swansea) and Chris Thompson (Alan Storey; Aldershot Farnham & District) are among a host of athletes vying for a quick time on Friday morning.

The men’s qualifying standard for Tokyo is 2:11.30.

In the women’s contest, Stephanie Davis (Philip Kissi; Clapham Chasers) is the fastest in the field having run inside the Olympic qualifying standard, posting a time of 2:27.40 in Valencia in 2019.

14 women will go in the race including Nastasha Cockram (Tony Houchin; Mickey Morris Racing Team), winner of the 2020 London Marathon, and Lily Partridge (Alan Storey; Birchfield) who holds a PB of 2:29:24 from 2018.

The Olympic Games qualifying standard for the women marathon athletes is 2:29.30.

In the 20km race walks, Tom Bosworth (Andi Drake; Tonbridge) headlines the men’s contest and is currently the only British athlete who holds the standard for Tokyo. Callum Wilkinson (Rob Heffernan; Enfield & Haringey), who showed great form in clocking 39:05.85  in the 10,000m race walk earlier this month, will be chasing the 1:21.00 World Athletics qualifying mark having clocked a PB of 1:21.21 in Lithuania last September.

Lining up in the women race, Gemma Bridge (Oxford City), Bethan Davies (Andi Drake, Cardiff) and Heather Lewis (Martin Bell, Pembrokeshire) will also be among these women chasing the Olympic Standard which is 1:31:35.

Marathon & 20km Walk Competitor List (as of 25.03.21)

Course maps are available here.

Live results will be available here.