Key events
Race report
Righto! That, my friends, is us. Thanks for your company and comments, and enjoy the rest of the weekend. Peace out.
Deborah from Belfast has just told us that “London is the friendliest place”. Runners’ buzz is for real!
My goodness we’re spoiling you today.
We learn that previously, there’s been no simple test to diagnose pancreatic cancer, but that’s not going to be the case for too much longer. Breathing into a bag that’s sent away for testing will soon be de rigueur, and in three to five years, GPs will have access to this test courtesy of Imperial College, London.
Things to look out for are: backache, tummy ache, changer in poo, tiredness, yellowness on the skin or around the eyes.
Here’s Sean Ingle’s race report.
This year, Pancreatic Cancer UK is the official race charity. Of the common cancers, it’s the biggest killer – almost 800 people a month, mainly because it’s caught too late. The idea is to fund what they’re calling “the ultimate test” so that other families don’t have to go through what those we’re meeting now are dealing with.
Also going on:
Oh my days, Alex Rice is running 230 miles down the canal tow-paths, from Macclesfield to the start line. He’s raising money for Coffee for Craig, a homeless charity, and quite rightly notes that the aim is to eradicate the situation entirely. In 2025, that should absolutely be possible.
This is the page for Elsie’s Story, the charity set up by Dave and family. Feel free to support here.
Ahh, we’re back with our mates Dave and Sergio, whose daughters were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last year. I can’t begin to imagine what they and their families are going through; I’m once again in bits, not just because of what happened but because of their emotional strength and integrity.
And here’s Assefa! Through an interpreter, she says that after coming second last year, to win here is very special and she’s very happy – the smile plastered across her coupon gives that one away. Last year, she had problems with the cold – her hamstrings tightened towards the end – but this year, the warm weather made it better for her.
Finally, Sawe says he hopes the marathon will be important to him and easy for him. Us too, old mate.
Ah, here’s Sawe. He’s “so happy” in his first attempt at a major marathon. He was well prepared and that’s why it became “easy” for him to win. Easy!
I’m going to grab a drink, but I’ll be back in a few minutes to meet some of our regular heroes.
Yee hit the deck as soon as he finished, a ball of exhaustion. He’ll be excited with his performance, I think, and I’m intrigued to see what he does next.
Alex Yee, the Olympic triathlon champion, finishes in, I think, 13th place, his time about 2:11:06 – pretty good for his first marathon. But the highest-placed Briton is Mahamed Mahamed, ninth in 2:08:52.
I’d love some interviews, but thus far, nothing doing.
A little bit of reading for you…
No, the verdict goes not to Mutiso of Kenya, who must make do with fourth, but to Nageeye of the Netherlands! I’d like to see that photo, because as it happened, it looked Mutiso all the way.
After 26 miles, Mutiso, last year’s winner, and Nageeye, cannot be separated! They sprint for the line – how is this even possible?! – and I think Mutiso sneaks it, but what a moment that is! They embrace and look back to normal immediately! Insane.
Kiplimo of Uganda, the half-marathon world-record destroyer, comes second and doesn’t he enjoy the moment. Imagine how good he’s going to be after a few more races; this too is a line in the sand!
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya wins the men’s race
He wins in 2:02:26, a brilliant performance, tactically perfect, and that is line in the sand.
It’s impossible to grasp what these runners put in to doing this, but you can see the depth of it etched into their faces. Here comes Sawe to finish!
Sawe must be in agony, but is that a grin playing across his face? He knows he’s done it, and he’s embracing the moment of his life so far, having devastated one of the strongest fields ever assembled. What a joy this must be.
Sawe has destroyed the field, and kicking at drinks was such a strong move. Second is Kiplimo, 46s behind, and this is a really good effort form him on his marathon debut – I can’t wait to see how he develops – but at 29, Sawe has plenty of improving to do too.
Eilish McColgan finishes eighth in 2:24:25, which is a new Scottish record – the previous mark was Steph Twell’s 2:26:40, and also breaks her family record – mum Liz’s best time is 2:26:52.
Sawe still leads the men’s race while, over in Sheffield, Shaun Murphy leads Judd Trump 2-1 in their last-16 match at the Crucible. I’ll be bringing you both days of the final next Sunday and Monday and I can’t wait, but let’s not wish our lives away when there’s an indecent amount of sporting joy awaiting us between now and then.
The 1-2-3 pose for photos at Assefa’s behest, and that’s lovely to see – they’ve hurt each other something fierce, but it’s in the past and they’re all martea again now, until the next time.
Hassan looks a little disappointed; she didn’t run her best race today and might reflect that had she sat off in the early stages perhaps she’d have had enough to come back towards the end. But Assefa ran a very special race, and it would’ve taken something appalling to challenge her, even for a freak of nature like the Olympic champ.
Joyciline Jepkosgei is bushed. Her legs are made of wood and barely belong to her, things she can’t feel moving, just about; she looks behind to see what’s going on behind, but she’s safe, just. She finishes second and here comes Hassan to take third.
Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia wins the women’s race in a women’s-only world record time
A wondrous piece of work! The course record survives; her time is 2.15:50.
Assefa grooves on, the crowd cheering her home and she takes the final bend – THE RECORD IS GOING TO BE HERS!
385 yards to go! Come on Tigst!
The time we’re looking for is 2:16:16; that’s the women’s only world record – Ruth Chepng’etich ran 2:09:56 in last year’s Chicago Marathon, but that was a mixed race. 800m to go and Assefa, an Olympic silver medallist at that distance, will know she can devastate that. What moments!
Again, I’d love to know what’s in Assefa’s mind now. The race is one, but how much pain is she in? Is she enjoying the moment? Taking it stride by stride? Singing American Pie to herself? She’ll be finished the race before the man there said the music wouldn’t play.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya is punishing himself and the rest of the field; he’s run a 4.18 mile – and the one before was 4.40, 4.46 before that. If he settles back in to where he was before the break, it’ll still take something major to catch him.
And have a look! Assefa has gone from 5.26 and 5.28 to 5.03! With two miles to go, this is over, and she still looks perfectly chill.
