The rescheduled Australian 50km Race Walking Championships were held on Sunday morning at Melbourne’s Fawkner Park.
Just one man made up the field after a deluge of rain two weekends ago washed out the original schedule, with Swede Perseus Karlström setting a new national mark of 3h44m35s – a 14-second improvement.
“I’m very happy,†said Karlström, with the long-standing record now his.
“It was 29-years-old. It’s good that it wasn’t older than me,†he laughed.
The Open Women’s 20km Race Walk Invitational featured a strong field, with New Zealand’s national record holder Alana Barber (1h33m36s) setting a Commonwealth Games B qualifying mark with her win. Australia’s Claire Tallent finished in second place, 23 seconds in arrears. Tallent had been originally the sole women’s entrant in the 50km event, but with the reschedule, was forced to drop back to the shorter distance. Victoria’s Jemima Montag impressed with her third place (1h34m18s) in what was her first event in the open ranks. The times set by the Tallent and Montag were well within the Commonwealth Games qualifying standard of 1h36m, as was Regan Lamble's fourth-placed time of 1h35m04s.
In a clean sweep for the internationals in the senior events, New Zealand’s Quentin Rew took out the Open Men’s 20km Race Walk Invitational in a time of 1h22m17s. New South Welshman Tyler Jones was next across the finish line 92seconds back earning a Commonwealth Games qualifying time, with Carl Gibbons (NSW) third after 1h28m16s.
You can watch highlights from all the event on the video below, courtesy of Athletics Victoria.
Full results can be found here.
