Sunday 28 April, Coventry, Race Walking Association 20k Championship

The National 20k walk in Coventry this afternoon didn't turn out to be the great triumph we had hoped for the Belgrave women. Half the squad were elsewhere and we had one drop-out and one DQ, so Gražina Narviliene was our only female finisher. But what a finisher! She was 3rd in the UKA championship and 1st in the RWA (which covers just England - the first two in the UKA event were from Wales).

Despite not having done a 20k in many years and feeling various pains and discomforts on the way round, Gražina walked really well to record an excellent 1 hr 50 mins 19secs, which placed her 6th overall, with just 3 men in front of her in addition to the 2 young Welsh ladies.

Commiserations to Lauren Whelan, who dropped out after suffering the effects of a very brisk start and a very chilly wind.