Marcia dal Mondo - Dettaglio News - 08/09/2019 - Adelaide (AUS): Australian Winter Roadwalk Championships

08/09/2019 Adelaide (AUS): Australian Winter Roadwalk Championships

2019 Australian Roadwalk Championships, Adelaide, Sunday 8 September

The Australian Roadwalk Championships were contested in the Adelaide Parklands, Adelaide, on the morning of Sunday 8th August. The venue was the same one used for the Australian Summer Roadwalk Championships each February, but the course was shortened from 2km to 1km, thus avoiding a hilly section at one end. The weather was not kind to the walkers, with strong winds throughout the morning and with rain setting in after the first few races. The slower than normal times are perhaps a reflection of the conditions.

The Open 20km championships were the first events underway at 8:30AM. 28 year old 2016 Olympian Rhydian Cowley (PB 1:20:19) was an easy winner in the men's race, breaking away early and walking on his own to a final time of 1:26:28. 20 year old Kyle Swan (6th 2018 World Junior Champs 41:44) walked a 4 minute PB to take silver with 1:31:41, while 21 year old Adam Garganis made it a clean sweep for Victoria with the bronze in 1:32:12, a good time considering he has trained or raced little over the last 12 months.

Claire Woods (3rd 2018 World Team Championships 50km 4:09:33) was untroubled to win the women's title with 1:44:55 in a very small field. Claire and Rhydian are both in the Australian team for the 2019 World Championships and will be in action again in Doha. Most of the remainder of the walks team are already in Europe and have had to miss this particular championship, due to the timing.

The junior (U20) 10km titles went to Mitchell Baker (44:59) and Jemma Peart (53:09) while the U18 titles went to Gwyllym Young (45:59) and Alanna Peart (24:43).

With the winter season now completed, Australian walkers have a break before the Summer Track based season kicks off in early October. The next big meet for the younger walkers in the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships (Perth) in early December, while the senior walkers will be looking towards the Australian 50km championship (Melbourne) in December 2018 and the Australian Summer 20km Championship (Adelaide) in February 2019.

Men 20km Road Walk

1 Cowley, Rhydian VIC 1:26:28.01

2 Swan, Kyle VIC 1:31:41.00

3 Garganis, Adam VIC 1:32:12.07

4 Gibbons, Carl NSW 1:35:23.01

5 Mottrom, Kim SA 1:35:45.06

6 Jimenez Solis, Ignacio QLD 1:36:23.00

7 Richardson, Dylan NSW 1:39:41.06

8 Upton, Royrie SA 2:14:23.80

- Jones, Tyler NSW DNF

- Harlington, Alix SA DNF

- Mann, Bradley WA DNF