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12/08/2024 00:00, In Blog /

Having been called into the team just eight days before the start of the Olympic marathon, Clara Evans produced a brilliant run to be the first British finisher on the streets of Paris on Sunday morning.

The Pontypridd Roadents athlete finished 46^th out of 92 starters in 26 degrees temperatures in central Paris having tackled one of the toughest courses seen in a championship marathon.

The race was won in a new Olympic record of 2:22.55 by the remarkable Sifan Hassan, of the Netherlands, who added marathon gold to the bronze medals she had already won in the 5,000m and 10,000m on the track.

But Evans’ achievement was equally impressive in her first marathon of this year, having not tackled the 26.2m distance since she set a new Welsh record in Valencia last December.

Having concentrated on the half marathon this year, finishing ninth individually and helping GB win the team gold at the European Athletics Championships in June, this was a huge step up for Evans in her first Olympics.

However, she responded magnificently to the call she received from the Great Britain team management last Saturday following the withdrawal of Charlotte Purdue due to injury.

Having put preparations for her wedding next weekend temporarily on hold, Evans joined team-mates Rose Harvey and Calli Hauger-Thackary on the start line.

Evans, 30, was roared on by travelling friends and family – including fiancé Paul – in the French capital – known as the city of love!

And it was the Welsh woman who led the way for the GB trio as the race set off from the historic Hotel de Ville in the centre of the city.

Passing landmarks like the Louvre Museum, the runners left the city and headed out to Versailles where they passed the magnificent palace before tackling an extremely gruelling hill on the outskirts of Viroflay.

Evans will have been well used to the undulations along the course and she established herself in the main body of the field as the runners headed back towards the city.

Having passed under the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, Evans ran onto the blue finishing carpet at the Esplanade des Invalides in a highly creditable 46^th place out of the 80 finishers, clocking a time of 2:33.01.

Harvey finished 78^th in 2:51.03, while Hauger-Thackary was unfortunately unable to finish.

Evans said after the race:

It was hard and it was hot – I wanted to stay strong for as long as possible.

 

I only got called up last weekend, so to come first Brit makes me really proud of myself.

 

I wasn’t expecting it – I was preparing for my wedding and getting married on Saturday, so it’s been a crazy couple of weeks.

 

I was really emotional and really happy.

 

I just never thought I could ever make an Olympics ever – I didn’t think I was good enough so I’m happy to do myself proud.

 

I might not be as fast as other girls but I’m strong, determined on tougher courses and don’t like being told no.

 

If I get told no I want to prove people wrong.

On her fiancé and family being in attendance, Evans added:

Paul was out there somewhere on the course!

 

I saw my family with 2km to go – they never normally watch me run as they’re looking after my dogs, so was nice to see them.

A huge congratulations to Clara on a fantastic run and have a fantastic wedding!