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Half Marathon Walking Hungarian Gala in Békéscsaba.
Walkers competed in the new Olympic distance for the first time in Hungary at this year’s national championship in Békéscsaba. Hungarian championships have already been held on official distances since last October: last October, a half marathon championship was held in Zittau, Germany, and this year, a marathon championship was held in Gyűgy, Slovakia. The latter produced two European championships: Bence Venyercsán and Norbert Tóth, who qualified for the Birmingham event, and the former won the gold category competition with the best European time, a level of success that was last achieved 25 years ago by Sándor Urbanik, who won in 50 kilometers.
The 47th time that the Walking Gala is being held in Békéscsaba, and it has been listed among the bronze category events of the WA Race Walking Tour since last year. No big surprises are expected in the half marathon championship competition.
Máté Helebrandt from Nyíregyháza, who has previously won in Békéscsaba on several occasions, will not be competing in the men’s race because he has focused on preparing for the marathon distance this year, so we will see them at the European Championships in the summer. For this reason, Bence Venyercsán, who has already produced excellent 20km results, will be the clear champion in 1:25:44, with Norbert Tóth in second place behind him (1:28:37). The foreign members of the field are young: 21-year-old Mexican Olivares Barba Carlos Alberto (third in 1:34:24) and 22-year-old Michal Duda (SVK) arrived fourth in 1:37:09.
A close race is not expected for the women’s race either: Tiziana Spiller, who achieved several age group records last year, could win another championship title for Budapesti Honvéd, finishing in 1:40:50 while her closest opponent will be the current record holder of the new distance, Alexandra Kovács from Békéscsaba (1:48:34). The latter could be on the Road to Birmingham qualification list with a good result, or even among the top 35 female walkers in the best case scenario. Third place to Spanish Ainhoha Gonzalez Pinedo in 1:51:10 and bronze medal in Hungarian Half Marathon Race Walking Championships to Anett Torma in 2:05:38.
Results
Hungarian Half Marathon Race walking Gala 2026 - Békéscsaba
Photo by: Dinya Magdolna, beol.hu
