Hawkins back on track as he claims silver at Race Walk Championships

PAUL Hawkins was back to his best as he claimed a silver medal at the BMAF 10k Race Walk Championships at Leicester’s Abbey Park.

It was very warm and quite windy ensuring it was not the day for a personal best, but Stratford AC chairman Hawkins was pleased to maintain a fairly consistent pace, averaging 10 minutes 12 seconds a mile.

This consistency ensured he was able to overtake three other race walkers in the last couple of laps.

The overall race was won in 53.29 by Portugal’s Francisco Reis, who probably enjoyed the heat.

In Hawkins’ age group, the first two to finish were both members of the European bronze medal team from Madrid, with Malcolm Martin first and Hawkins picking up the silver medal in a time of 65.09, which was just 40 seconds outside his season’s best.

“I was happy with that,” said Hawkins afterwards.

“After a run of bad races a couple of months ago, I was pleased with this, especially after the Midland Veterans' track and field league win on Wednesday.”