The 26-year-old is looking to break the national marathon mark in the near future
It may not happen at this year’s TCS London Marathon on Sunday (April 21) but Emile Cairess has his eyes on becoming the British record-holder in the men’s marathon.
After his 2:08:07 at last year’s edition, the 26-year-old not only went under the Olympic qualifying standard of 2:08:10 but also put himself fourth on the UK all-time list.
The only athletes ahead of him are Phil Sesemann, who has already been selected for Team GB after his 2:08:04 in Seville a couple of months ago, Steve Jones and the current holder of the national mark – Mo Farah.
Farah’s run of 2:05:11, set in Chicago six years ago, hasn’t come under threat and the four-time Olympic track champion has still run the three fastest marathon times ever run by a Briton. His other two marks were set in London, clocking 2:06:21 and 2:05:39 in 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Emile Cairess (LM Events)
Cairess is not expecting to threaten the record this weekend, stating that: “You should judge my potential after seven or eight marathons.” However, the man from Bradford is confident of bettering it “fairly soon”.
“I think I can beat that time (2:05:11) at some point,” Cairess tells AW. “In the future I want to go quite a bit faster than it and I want to be competitive in races like the London Marathon and the Olympics.
“A marathon takes time, though. Even if your training has gone well, you can’t do this time or that time, you have to take it slowly. It’s a process. I have to be patient.”
The fact that Cairess ran 2:08:07 on debut last year is exciting and it does make you wonder how quickly he can actually go. In February, he narrowly missed breaking the one-hour barrier as he ran a near half-minute personal best of 60:01 at the Napoli City Half Marathon.
Only Callum Hawkins, who is making his long-awaited return over 26.2 miles in London this weekend, and Farah have gone quicker over that distance.
Mo Farah (Mark Shearman)
Cairess states that he was “disappointed not to run a little bit quicker” in Naples but that he was “happy with the pace”.
It’s no surprise is holding himself to the highest of standards given his training for London is “significantly better” than last year.
“I’ve had much better preparation,” says the Brit. “I’ve now been a marathon runner for one year and 12 weeks. I’ve done around 40 specific marathon sessions this time around, whereas last year it was around 10.
“Training in Kenya has been great with Renato Canova’s group and it’s been really insightful. I’m running with a load of 2:06 guys and it makes those times feel less scary when you’re training with them. You see what they do day in and day out.
“I’ve done much quicker runs in Kenya this year and I’ve built that into my training. I’ve continued that since I’ve come home and the easy runs are not so easy anymore. On top of good mileage it’s good.
“If you do the same preparation that they do and they are doing a certain time then it gives you more confidence to replicate that. It’s not just doing one session here or there, it’s the entire package.”
Phil Sesemann (COROS)
Once London is out of the way, the odds point to Cairess joining his friend and regular training partner Sesemann on the British Olympic marathon team that will be confirmed early next week.
“It would be really special to represent Team GB in Paris,” adds Cairess. “When you’re young, it’s something you dream of being at. But I don’t want to go to the Olympics just to be a part of it, I want to perform. I want to do my best and be competitive.
“I’d say as a country we’re improving [in the marathon] but I actually think we’re still not that strong. If you look at France, Spain or Italy, we’re actually quite weak. We’re working towards a good level but then look at Japan. There are still a lot of countries we’re behind.”
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