Clara Evans-Graham on setting a Welsh record in Valencia

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The British athlete smashed her half-marathon personal best and reflects on a successful year following the Olympics and European Championships

Clara Evans-Graham set a Welsh half-marathon record on October 27 in Valencia, crossing the finish line in 69:00.

The 30-year-old not only secured 14th place in the race but broke the previous record of 69:41, set by Charlotte Arter in 2019.

This achievement adds to Evans-Graham’s growing list of records, as she also holds the Welsh marathon record of 2:25:04, which she set in Valencia last December. She was also ninth in the half-marathon at the European Championships in Rome, winning team gold.

With her sights set on further success, she is now aiming to break her own marathon record once again back at the Valencia Marathon later this year (December 1).

Evans-Graham’s journey has been anything but conventional as she was called up to the Team GB squad at this year’s Paris Olympics, following Charlotte Purdue’s withdrawal due to an ankle injury.

Despite only getting the call a week before, Evans-Graham made a strong Olympic debut, finishing as the top British runner in 46th place with 2:33:01 on a tough hilly course.

Yet, even after the Olympic whirlwind, there was little time to rest as just a week later, she had to quickly shift her focus to another major life event – her wedding.

Here is our Q&A with Evans-Graham:

How did you feel after your PB in Valencia?

I was really happy, you always are when you get such big PBs. I did the Berlin Half Marathon which was ridiculously hot and then I did Europeans this year, which I ran a PB in both, but in ridiculous conditions. I wanted to do a half-marathon that was in normal temperature and I knew I was in good shape going into it.

I’m training for the Valencia Marathon so you aren’t quite sure how the half is going to go but I knew I wanted to get a low 69. A couple of the other girls had a bit more speed and I didn’t have it in the legs, because I haven’t done any faster work as I’m marathon training. But that is to be expected and I didn’t slow down.

What did your preparations look like for the half-marathon?

I was in Font Romeu for three weeks so preparations went really well. The aim was to get a race in to see where I was on the build-up to the full marathon in December. I was still doing marathon workouts a week before and I didn’t really taper too much down for it.

Have you had time to reflect on your Olympic experience?

It was a bit of a whirlwind, seven days of pure carnage. It was a great experience and I just bounced from one thing to another thing. But I think when I end my season this year, I’ll be able to take it in more. I appreciate it now, but I can work through it because I went straight from the Olympics to my wedding, to training camp, to racing.

It’s been continuous. I’m looking forward to the break and being able to fully process everything that’s happened this year.

How did you feel when you got the last minute call-up for the Olympic team?

I obviously hoped I would get called up but a week before the hope had gone and I had forgotten about the Olympics. I wasn’t even watching them. I didn’t watch the opening ceremony, I didn’t watch anything. I couldn’t even think about it, I was just trying to keep myself super busy.

I didn’t really care at that point until I got called up. I found out on the Saturday and flew out on Tuesday. I tried to take it in my stride, take everything in and get out there.

I had no expectations for the race, I just wanted to go have fun, take in the atmosphere, enjoy it and see what I could do because I hadn’t done the training block specifically. I got everything out of it that I really wanted to.

What was it like to go straight from the Olympics to your own wedding?

I was really organised at the start when I knew I was in consideration. When I didn’t get the selection, I thought I didn’t need to be so organised anymore because I had loads of time. So when I got the call there was loads of stuff I left to the last minute.

I got back on the Monday and everything had to be at the venue the next morning so I literally had one day to do everything.

I didn’t see anyone for a whole week when I got home because I was really focused on sorting all my wedding stuff out. It was a really bizarre time because everyone was congratulating me on two things.

What is the aim for the Valencia marathon?

I knew the process that I was going to do training-wise for the marathon would have kept me fit if I was called in to the Olympics. My personal best is 2:25:01, so I would obviously like to go down to 2:24.

The half went better than I expected, so I’m probably in slightly better shape than I thought. I’m just going to go with the flow of the race and see how it feels and where the groups are. I’ll make the decisions as I am going.

How important is it for you to represent the Welsh community?

I think it is massive because younger athletes can see themselves in you. I think it’s good as an individual, but also I think it has a bigger impact on the wider community in South Wales. You often see all the posts online about ‘Paris this and Paris that’ and it means so much to them that somebody from Wales is represented at the Olympics.

Breaking the Welsh records is always something nice to have and it is something quite special to say that you are the fastest.

What does the future look like for you?

I’m not really somebody who like sets big goals. I’m probably quite boring in that sense. I just follow the process and wherever that leads me is the goal.

I don’t necessarily target making teams because I personally find it stressful because realistically it is out of your control. You can only control what you can run so I feel like as long as I can control my controllables and run to the best of my ability, whatever comes from that situation, I will take it as it comes.

As long as I’m still running personal bests that’s all I really care about, because that will ultimately lead to those kind of selections and those goals. I’ve already done a lot this year so if I ever had any goals, I’ve probably already done them.

What have you learnt from your career this year?

Just trust myself, trust the process and everything that I do. Sometimes when things don’t go your way, you can still get an opportunity out of it and you can still make a positive out of the situation.

Obviously not getting the original selection for the Olympics did hurt and you’ve just got to use that to fuel you and to prove a point, and see what you can do.

When I did Europeans, I wasn’t going to the Olympics. So I thought it was my Olympics of the year and I raced it like it was and did the best I could. Winning that gold and standing on that podium was probably a slighter higher achievement than the Olympics.

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