By Steph Stigwood

“So far I can only get access to a few pics but the rest are being loaded. This picture was from the first couple of laps. We were the 'chase group'. The atmosphere was fantastic and the number of walkers in the field (43!) was something I'm not used to but knew it would give me a greater advantage. I was able to see the entry list that provided us with pb's, where I was ranked 18th. 

I saw the Italian women had 1:35 times, so I knew that I needed to sit with them if I was to get the World Championships qualifier. This was by far the smartest and mentally strongest race I have had. I also managed to scalp a few big race walking names along the way to my 55 second pb of 1:36:24, where I placed sixth. 

Being 25 seconds shy of the qualifying time, but still getting such a big pb was a difficult result to process-happy but still disappointed. I'm ready to take my second chance at the qualifier in Naumburg (GER), hungry for at least 25 more seconds. Thank you to everyone who has helped me in my lead-up and everyone who has sent me well wishes-they are invaluable to me. Danke from Deuschland”. 

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Thanks for the update Steph!