Brendan finished in a highly respectable twenty-ninth place in what was his first major senior international in the 20km event.
His performance, however, is even more impressive when you consider that he had his knee broken after being hit by a bicycle while out training 6 weeks before the event. His original plan was to race over 50km but his injury meant changing event only two weeks out from the race.
Brendan commented: “I had a week off after the accident and then was told my kneecap could be fractured. I was advised to rest for 4 weeks but this race was too important so I went straight out and got some painkillers and trained like that for the next 4 weeks instead.”
An x-ray later confirmed the fracture and it became clear that 50km was too much to take in such a condition so a change to 20km was the only way to make it to the start line.
On race day, Brendan started off at a conservative pace and was rewarded as the hot and windy conditions took their toll, with 15 athletes failing even to make it to the finish line.
Consequently, Brendan was able to work his way through the suffering field and crossed the line in 1hr 32min, almost 7 minutes slower than the time he set at the Lugano Grand Prix in Switzerland back in March, just before his injury.
That time, incidentally, was enough for Brendan to qualify for this summer’s World University Games, which take place in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
“It’s been a tough day but 29th was better than I could have hoped for, it’s a strong position and now I can focus on the World University Games this summer. However, it means I will not even race 50km until at least the autumn when I will try to qualify for the Olympics,” said Boyce, who is currently inside the 50km at Olympic ‘B’ Standard and is hoping to progress up to the ‘A’ Standard in time for next summer’s extravaganza.
Brendan has already had 2 PB performances over shorter distances this year, at 10k in London and then 5k at the national indoors in Belfast where he placed 3rd. The Milford man is currently the number one ranked Racewalker in the UK.
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