The British athlete smashed her half-marathon personal best and reflects on a successful year following the Olympics and European Championships
Clara Evans-Graham set a Welsh half-marathon record on October 27 in Valencia, crossing the finish line in 69:00.
The 30-year-old not only secured 14th place in the race but broke the previous record of 69:41, set by Charlotte Arter in 2019.
This achievement adds to Evans-Graham’s growing list of records, as she also holds the Welsh marathon record of 2:25:04, which she set in Valencia last December. She was also ninth in the half-marathon at the European Championships in Rome, winning team gold.
With her sights set on further success, she is now aiming to break her own marathon record once again back at the Valencia Marathon later this year (December 1).
Evans-Graham’s journey has been anything but conventional as she was called up to the Team GB squad at this year’s Paris Olympics, following Charlotte Purdue’s withdrawal due to an ankle injury.
Despite only getting the call a week before, Evans-Graham made a strong Olympic debut, finishing as the top British runner in 46th place with 2:33:01 on a tough hilly course.
Yet, even after the Olympic whirlwind, there was little time to rest as just a week later, she had to quickly shift her focus to another major life event – her wedding.
Clara Evans (Getty)
Here is our Q&A with Evans-Graham:
How did you feel after your PB in Valencia?
I was really happy, you always are when you get such big PBs. I did the Berlin Half Marathon which was ridiculously hot and then I did Europeans this year, which I ran a PB in both, but in ridiculous conditions. I wanted to do a half-marathon that was in normal temperature and I knew I was in good shape going into it.
I’m training for the Valencia Marathon so you aren’t quite sure how the half is going to go but I knew I wanted to get a low 69. A couple of the other girls had a bit more speed and I didn’t have it in the legs, because I haven’t done any faster work as I’m marathon training. But that is to be expected and I didn’t slow down.
What did your preparations look like for the half-marathon?
I was in Font Romeu for three weeks so preparations went really well. The aim was to get a race in to see where I was on the build-up to the full marathon in December. I was still doing marathon workouts a week before and I didn’t really taper too much down for it.
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