British Grand Prix of Race Walking in Leeds on Saturday sees 20km wins for Tom Bosworth and Bethan Davies as Heather Lewis sets Welsh 10km record

Tom Bosworth and Bethan Davies took the British 20km titles at the Brownlee Centre in Leeds on Saturday (April 30), Ian Richards reports.

Bosworth moved to the top of the UK rankings for 2022 clocking 85:27, as he regained the title he last won on 2018, while Davies showed remarkable powers of recovery having set the British 35km record of 2:58:48 the previous weekend to clock 98:49 over 20km.

Bosworth had the added bonus of clocking 40:53 at the 10km mark, well inside the England Commonwealth Games standard of 41:30.

Bosworth set the early pace alongside, Guy Thomas and Leeds-based Chris Snook, who were also chasing the Welsh and English standard of 41:30 over 10km. Bosworth put in 3:59 third kilometre to drop Snook and Thomas and passed 5km in 20:21.

Snook paid for a brave effort of trying to go with Bosworth and dropped out just after the 5km point, whereas Thomas was disqualified at the 7km point.

Bosworth forged ahead to pass 10km in 40:53. He backed off the pace in the second half with a 22:02 split between 10km and 15km and a final 5km split of 22:31 to bring him home in 85:27.

He said: “My main aim was to get the England Commonwealth time at 10km and then use the second half to see where my fitness is at. I am racing over 10km in Madrid in two weeks’ time and will then chase the 20km qualifying time for the World and European Championship in La Coruna at the end of May.”

Cameron Corbishley improved his season’s best of 88:12 that he set in Podebrady to clock 88:02 to move to No.2 on the UK rankings for 2022. Tom Partington took the bronze medal in the British Championships in 96:09.

In the women’s race, Davies clocked a fine 98:49 just seven days after her British record efforts over 35km. She passed the halfway in 48:43 before slowing slightly in the last 5km to clock 98:49 – a time that puts her No.2 on the UK rankings for 2022.

Davies said: “I am keen to double up at major championships in the future and wanted to see how my body would react racing 20km so soon after the 35km.”

Abigail Jennings took silver in a personal best of 1:48:57, improving on her debut performance of 1:49.:29 set at Kew Gardens last year. She also took England and RWA titles.

Jacqueline Benson took bronze in the British Champs and silver in the England and RWA Championship in a personal best of 1:57:14.

In the supporting 10km event Heather Lewis set a Welsh record and the second fastest ever performance by a British woman over 10km with 44:56. This is also well inside the Welsh Commonwealth Games standard of 46:00.

She walked the first half of the race at consistent 1km laps of between 4:23 and 4:28 to go through halfway in 22:15. In the second half she slowed slightly, but a last lap of 4:28 saw her break Bethan Davies’ Welsh record by three seconds.

Christian Hopper took the British under-20 10km title in 50:12. It was a golden double for the Hopper family, too, as his sister Hannah Hopper took the British under-20 women’s 10km title in 52:34. In the 5km event under-17 Gracie Griffiths set a personal best of 25:38.