Jonathan Hobbs was relieved and exhausted after becoming the youngest ever winner of the National 50k Race Walking Championship in its 84-year history at Hillingdon on Sunday.

The 21-year-old Ashford AC member, who lives at Chartham, finished in five hours 12.24 seconds – 48 minutes ahead of his nearest rival, on his debut at the distance.

It was his third victory of the year, following up his Northern 35k victory in Yorkshire in July and the Guernsey 19.4-mile church to church race last month.

Hobbs said: “I have been race walking for over 10 years and have had a good year.
“The race was 50 laps of a cycling track and 15k further than I ever walked before, so it was a completely new experience for me.

“The plan was to take it steady, pace it well and get to the finish.”

He added: “I was still fairly comfortable at 20k but in 50 racing, it is common to go through occasional bad patches where the finish seems an impossibly distant concept.

"I learned a lot in those five and a quarter hours and I’m confident that, once I’ve fully recovered and rested, I can make some considerable improvements and do it again but faster.”