Hawkins chances of winning the Commonwealth Games Marathon has improved since Zane Robertson has withdrawn

Callum Hawkins (UK) wants to medal in the Commonwealth Games marathon on Sunday April 15. His chances have improved since New Zealand's Zane Robertson won't be running. Callum spoke to Martin Yelling on Tuesday's Marathon Talk show and confirmed a recent 125-mile training week. Hawkins has been training in Australia since shortly after his third place run behind Mo Farah at the Big Half in London on March 4 and was pleased to get a 22-hour flight out of the way well ahead of the Games. Since then he has been able to concentrate on his programme and as he settles into his race taper, Hawkins reported that he had been 'cranking big sessions in the heat', both in terms of miles and quality. Race preparation has also included a detailed look of the marathon course which starts and finishes at Southport Broadwater Parklands, consideration of winds on race day, experiments with hydration strategies and detailed discussion of tactics with his coach (and father) Robert Hawkins. Following a 9th place at the 2016 Olympic marathon in Rio, a Scottish record-breaking run at the 2017 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon in Japan and a fourth place at the 2017 World Championships marathon (2:10:17).

posted Thursday April 5th