Well led by her trainer Justin Mahieu at a pace of 3’30/3’31 per kilometer, the athlete from Dampicourt achieved an incredible performance with a final time of 2h27’20.
Basically, this represents:
– A third place in the race behind Vivian Jerotich (2h26’39) and Sara Makera….
– A substantial improvement in his initial time over the distance (2h31:40 in Hanover on April 14),
– A fourth Belgian time of all time behind Marleen Renders (2h23’05), Chloé Herbiet (2h24’56) and Hanne Verbruggen (2h26’32),
– A second national title this year after the one won in the half marathon in Gentbrugge.
An incredible performance for the woman who, a few weeks ago, had already managed to beat her record on 10 km road (31’41) and approach that on semi (69’59).
On a course reputed to be much slower than in Berlin or Valencia, Juliette Thomas, with her time + the bonus granted for this title, went to get “big points” with a view to her 2025 summer objective, namely a qualification for the world championships in Tokyo or the world road racing championships in San Diego (a choice to make in the event of double qualification since both meetings fall in September).
The podiums of the Belgian championships:
Gentlemen (victory for Kenyan Enock Kinyamal in 2h06’28): 1. Thomas De Bock,
Ladies (victory for Kenyan Viviane Jerotich in 2h26’39): 1. Juliette Thomas, 2h27’20; 2. Amélie Saussez; 3. Saskia Vens.
(Awaiting official times for certain names).
