25th October 2021
WEEKEND UPDATE - 23-24 OCTOBER
British Grand Prix of Race Walking and British 35km Championships, Saturday 23 October, The Brownlee Centre, Leeds
Bethan Davies (Andi Drake, Cardiff) set a new British Record of 3.00.24 in her debut at the 35km distance which will become the new distance at international championships during the 2022.
Despite the breezy conditions which made racing tough going, Bethan competing at the University of Leeds Brownlee Centre Cycle Circuit, made a very impressive step up from the 20km distance.
She set off in the company of Finland’s Elisa Neuvonen who was also making her debut over the distance. Bethan passed the 10km mark in 50.15 as she held a small lead over Neuvonen (50.49). She slowed slightly over the next 10km (50.48) to pass the 20km mark in 1.41.03 as she increased her lead over the Finn to over a minute. The tough conditions and the moving into unknown territory began to take is toll with Davies slowing to 5km splits of 25.57 between 20 and 25km and 26.21 between 25km and 30km as she continued to hold her lead over Neuvonen of one minute 30 seconds. Davies found the last 5km tough clocking 27.01 and drifting just outside the three hour mark. She came home to set the new British Record of 3.00.24 with Neuvonen setting a new Finnish Record of 3.01.33..
In the 10km race walk, Christian Hopper (Noel Carmody, Cambridge Harriers) moved to second on the UK Under 20 rankings for 2021 with a great debut performance over the distance of 50.41.
Millie Morris (Ashford AC) was the first under 20 over 10km clocking 54.03 just getting the better of Hannah Hopper (Noel Carmody, Cambridge Harriers) who clocked a personal best of 54.04.
Leeds Abbey Dash, 24 October
In a highly competitive women’s field, Jess Piasecki (Robert Hawkins, Stockport) came out on top as she pulled away from Charlotte Arter (Chris Jones, Cardiff) to claim victory by 11 seconds.
The Tokyo Olympian ran a huge personal best to win in 31:19, with Arter next across the line in 31:30, also a significant PB.
In fact, the top three all scored lifetime bests as Jess Judd (Mick Judd, Blackburn) dipped under 32 minutes on the road for the first time as she recorded a time of 31:38.
Birchfield’s Kadar Omar (David Lawrence) won the men’s race ahead of clubmate, Omar Ahmed (Lawrence), clocking times of 28:46 and 28:50 respectively. The pair were convincingly ahead of David Mullarkey (Andrew Henderson, Leeds) who was third in a time of 29:13.
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