It was
fun to race in Cieza,
Juan Molina's hometown.
Juan Molina is very
popular in his hometown,
he even has his own
stadium. His club, Cieza
Golf, has many race
walkers. The kids were
racing before us. Before
our warm up, Sabine
Zimmer and I walked
around the 1km course
in the middle of the
city. It was impressive
to see how well most
of the kids were walking.
They already have a
smooth technique with
a very good rhythm.
From time to time I
have seen one or two
kids walking like this,
but in Cieza more than
50% of the kids did.
Very good work of the
coaches!!!
In our
race the young Spanish
girls took the lead
from the beginning,
but then Sabine Zimmer
was ready to do a good
race and after 400m
she started to walk
faster and faster. Most
of us followed, but
now most of the international
walkers were in front.
I walked just behind
Sabine and just stayed
with her. I passed 1km
in 4.22 with Sabine
just behind . I didn't
fly all the way to Spain
to walk 13 minutes,
so I pushed the pace
for the next 1,5km.
And then it was just
the last 500m to the
finish. It was a lot
of spectators watching
the race and it was
really fun to walk.
My legs were not so
fresh so I was happy
to win in a descent
time (12.37). Sabine
Zimmer and Sylwia Korzeniowska
were second and third.
The men's
race with good international
participation ended
up with a double triumph
for Spain. Paquillo
Fernandez won just ahead
of Juan Molina.
