Santa Eulària’s Olympic walker Marc Tur Picó yesterday won the runner-up position in the Spanish 20km race in the national competition held in Navarra, where the Peña Deportiva athlete obtained his personal best in the distance with a time of 1 hour, 21 minutes and 43 seconds. In addition, with this record Marc Tur is faster than the minimum requirement to earn a position to participate in the World Race Walking Championships in Oman (1h23’30”), on March 4 and 5, and in the European Championships in Munich (1h22’10”).
During the second half of the race the Olympic walker defended second position behind the winner, Alberto Amezcua, who crossed the finish line with a time of 1h20’29”. The third position went to Paul McGrath, who reached the finish line seven seconds behind the Ibizan.
The start of the men’s race took place at 10:00am, with a line-up of top-level walkers that included defending champion Diego García Carrera, 2021 runner-up Alberto Amezcua, 50km Olympic walkers Marc Tur (fourth in Tokyo) and Luis Manuel Corchete, and European U20 champion Paul McGrath among the Spaniards; in addition to Sweden’s Perseus Karlström, world bronze in Doha in 2019 and ninth at the Tokyo Games.
From the starting gun, Alberto Amezcua made his intentions clear in Pamplona to make up in a big way for the silver medal obtained in Murcia in 2021. Already in the first kilometer, the Granadino broke away from the group of favorites with a lead of seven seconds, which he would gradually extend until it became irretrievable.
From less to more
Ivan Pajuelo from Extremadura did not take long to pull away from the chasing group to join Amezcua at the head of the race, until kilometer 7, when the walker from Granada made his break again. In the second half of the race, Amezcua slightly widened his lead until nobody could threaten his first Spanish champion title, achieved with a time of 1:20:29.
Behind, Marc Tur and Paul McGrath distanced themselves for podium positions, while Diego García Carrera lost positions before kilometer 15 and Iván Pajuelo retired a little over halfway.
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