This weekend (3-4 April) a small UK contingent travelled to Rouen to
compete in the Rouen annual 24 hours race. Some 47 started and 41 finished
the 1.5 kms course having endured pretty much all types of weather. There
were 14 female competitors. Apart from the UK other nations taking part
included Germany (Thomas Betz), Belgium (Alexander Vandenhoeck) and
Belarus (Marina Tarassevich) who all finished in the top five positions.
The overall winner was Alain Costil of France who completed 204 kms, and
second was our own Sandra Brown who completed 198 kms. The other UK
finishers were Richard Brown who completed 174 kms in 7th. Position,
closely followed by Chris Flint who finished 9th having competed 166.5 kms.
Kathy Crilley, who had raced the Connemara marathon the week before,
completed 51 kms as a training spin, and once refreshed, helped Vicky
Brown who did valiant work to ensure we all had drinks and food. She is
greatly thanked.
Sandra walked a very sensible and strategically correct race, and Richard
also walked very well. He took ‘time out’ from the race to ease stomach
cramps before returning and finishing strongly. Chris Flint suffered from
the blustery wind and accompanying rain, but put in some hard work at the
latter stages to ensure he surpassed the 100 mile mark (160.9kms,
significant to the English if not to our Continental friends.)
I have rarely seen Sandra walk with such consummate
fluidity and control. Her style was excellent. This result should give
her great confidence for the Paris-Colmar in early June this year. We all
wish her well in an event where physical strength and stamina must be
matched with a strong mental will to rise above the difficulties.
Monsieur Francis Herbert organised the event and it
was well supported by the many Northern France athletic clubs with
competitors in the race. The 1.5 kms surface was not good and at one
point it traversed the entry and exit to a domestic fair which seemed to
have attracted most of Rouen. This caused some difficulties especially as
there were so few marshalls, and none at the far points of the course to
ensure all rounded the two extreme ends. There was no emergency first
aid. But it all went off without mishap and a clear results sheet was
produced for each competitor at the awards presentations an hour after the
race finish. An innovation that should be considered for UK long distance
races is the use of an electronic bib number that each competitor had to
wear, and as each completed a circuit they went through a wide metal arch
which identified the number to the recorder’s computer.
This event was good
evidence of the strong following race walking retains in France.
Chris Flint
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