Olympic fourth-placer Cairess hopes to make his mark in the British capital as many of the nation’s leading distance runners tackle 26.2 miles on April 27
After finishing fourth in the Olympic marathon last summer, Emile Cairess will lead the domestic challenge at the TCS London Marathon on April 27.
Eilish McColgan, Charlotte Purdue, Rose Harvey, Jack Rowe, Mahamed Mahamed, Phil Sesemann and Alex Yee are also among the entries, plus David Weir and Eden Rainbow-Cooper in the wheelchair races.
Cairess has had a meteoric rise since making his debut over 26.2 miles at the 2023 London Marathon where he finished sixth in 2:08:07, becoming the fastest British debutant of all time over the famous distance.
The 27-year-old went up another level again in 2024. First he stormed through the field in the closing stages of the 2024 TCS London Marathon to finish third overall. It was only the second time a British male athlete had finished on the podium (outside the para events) this century, after Mo Farah’s third place in 2018. What’s more, Cairess’s finishing time of 2:06:46 placed him second behind Farah on the UK all-time list.
Emile Cairess (Getty)
Then at last year’s Paris Olympic Games where again he found inner reserves of strength to come through the field on that gruelling marathon course to finish fourth overall, Britain’s best result in an Olympic marathon since Jon Brown’s two fourth places at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004.
Now Cairess is looking to continue his ascendancy at the 2025 London Marathon, where Farah’s British record of 2:05:11 could well be under threat.
Cairess said: “I had a great year in 2024 with some really positive results. My focus is always on getting the best out of myself. My runs at the TCS London Marathon and at the Paris Olympic Games were really satisfying and shows the hard work is paying off.
“I love racing the TCS London Marathon because it brings together the best athletes in the world. I want to be racing these guys on the big occasions and London provides that opportunity. I have three marathons of experience now and I’m still learning about the event, which makes me even more excited and positive for the future. I’m looking forward to putting in a good block of training and seeing what I can do on Sunday 27 April.”
Among those Cairess will be lining up alongside is fellow Brit and Olympic Games triathlon champion Alex Yee, who is making his marathon debut; Olympic marathon champion, Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia, and defending London Marathon champion, Alex Mutiso of Kenya.
Emile Cairess and Mahamed Mahamed (LM Events)
Other Brits in the field will include two further Paris Olympians: Mahamed, who was fourth in last year’s TCS London Marathon, and Sesemann.
Marc Scott will return to London after making his marathon debut at last year’s London Marathon where he finished 11th, while Jack Rowe, the winner of the past two editions of The Big Half, will make his debut over 26.2 miles.
McColgan will make her much-anticipated marathon debut in the elite women’s race after recovering from an injury-hit number of years. The 34-year-old, whose mum, Liz, won the London Marathon in 1996, was scheduled to compete for the first time over the marathon distance in 2023, off the back of her famous gold medal in the 10,000m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. But injuries have delayed that marathon debut and now she is looking forward to finally showing what she can do on the famous London course.
Jack Rowe and Eilish McColgan (Graham Smith)
McColgan said: “I’m really looking forward to making my marathon debut in London this year. After a tough 12 months of injury, I’m excited to finally toe the line and start the next chapter of my career on the roads.
“I’ve always had such incredible support on the streets of London when racing over the 10km and half marathon events, so I can’t wait to experience what the full TCS London Marathon atmosphere has in store.”
Other British women racing include Harvey, who finished last year’s Paris Olympic marathon despite sustaining a broken leg during the race; Purdue, the third-fastest British female marathoner of all time; Phily Bowden, who went ninth on the all-time British list when she ran 2:25:47 at the 2024 BMW Berlin Marathon; and Lucy Reid, who ran 2:26:35 on her marathon debut in Malaga in December.
Rose Harvey (Mark Shearman)
Brits in the wheelchair races include Weir, racing the London Marathon for an incredible 26th time in a row. The 45-year-old, who has won the London Marathon a record eight times, announced that the Paris Paralympic Games would be his last track competition, but his passion for racing on the roads shows no sign of slowing down and he showed he is still very much competitive on the world stage by finishing second at the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon.
In the women’s event, Rainbow-Cooper, who won her first Abbott World Marathon Major last year when she tamed the famous hills of the Boston Marathon, will be looking to challenge again on the London course. The 23-year-old, who competed at her first Paralympic Games last summer, has a best-placed finish of third at the London Marathon from 2022.
British men
- Emile CAIRESS (Personal best 2:06:46)
- Mahamed MAHAMED (PB 2:07:05)
- Philip SESEMANN (PB 2:08:02)
- Jonathan MELLOR (PB 2:09:06)
- Dewi GRIFFITHS (PB 2:09:49)
- Weynay GHEBRESILASIE (PB 2:09:50)
- Jake SMITH (PB 2:11:00)
- Marc SCOTT (PB 2:11:19)
- Luke CALDWELL (PB 2:11:33)
- Dan NASH (PB 2:12:59)
- Andrew HEYES (PB 2:13:52)
- Alexander LEPRETRE (PB 2:15:01)
- David BISHOP (PB 2:15:19)
- Logan SMITH (PB 2:15:49)
- William MYCROFT (PB 2:15:54)
- James HOAD (PB 2:16:29)
- Alex MILNE (PB 2:16:30)
- Chris THOMAS (PB 2:16:32)
- Carl AVERY (PB 2:17:01)
- Sean HOGAN (PB 2:17:02)
- Alex YEE (Debut)
- Jonathan DAVIES (Debut)
- Jacob ALLEN (Debut)
- Jack ROWE (Debut)
British women
- Charlotte PURDUE (PB 2:22:17)
- Rose HARVEY (PB 2:23:21)
- Phily BOWDEN (PB 2:25:47)
- Lucy REID (PB 2:26:35)
- Louise SMALL (PB 2:29:33)
- Holly ARCHER (Debut)
David Weir (London Marathon)
British wheelchair men
- David WEIR
- John Boy SMITH
- Simon LAWSON
- Sean FRAME
- Michael McCABE
British wheelchair women
- Eden RAINBOW-COOPER
- Jade JONES-HALL
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