British Grand Prix of Race Walking/EAA Permit Meeting - Sunday 8th June York Sports Village, York
Sun shining, with a stiff breeze blowing over the Cycle circuit that had a slight slope upwards on each of the 1km laps, provided the backdrop for today's inaugural Grand Prix event at York Sport Village. We were very fortunate to see two of the world's best walkers in Dane Bird-Smith (Australia) and Quentin Rew (New Zealand) for the Mens Event. The former moved well clear for a dominant win following the DQ of Alex Wright, while Rew used good pace judgement to take second place after an absorbing battle with a classy Irish contingent (of whom young Luke Hickey also impressed); while our top man Tom Bosworth faded today, he has certainly done everything asked of him to ensure selection for the Euro Champs in Zurich.
The womens race saw a new Welsh record from Heather Lewis, dipping under 100 mins, with the usual plucky performance from Alana Barber.
We are also very proud of our Under 20 youngsters, most of whom are still IAAF Youths and look forward to continued improvement from them over the next year or two. Sadly, Johanna Atkinson, Jaime Higgins and Ellie Dooley were forced to retire from their races.
Nevertheless a most enjoyable day with some good technical walking on view and a good turn out from the UK fraternity. Andi Drake and Ian Richards are congratulated on all their hard work over the last few months in putting on this promotion, which we hope is the first of many.
( see video and pics below which were taken on the far end of the circuit where we were operating)
