Running News Daily

British marathon running is rediscovering its confidence — and Emile Cairess believes that belief may be the most powerful performance enhancer of all.

At 28, Cairess has quietly positioned himself at the forefront of a new generation of British male distance runners who are no longer content with national relevance alone. Their ambitions are global, their standards higher, and their performances increasingly competitive against the East African dominance that has long defined the marathon.

Cairess’ trajectory over the past two seasons explains why expectations are growing. His third-place finish at the 2024 London Marathon announced him as a serious contender, but it was his fourth-place performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics marathon that truly confirmed his class — the joint-best Olympic result by a British man in 40 years.

Now his focus turns toward a historic target: the long-standing British marathon record of 2:05:11 set by four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah in 2018. The mark has endured for years, but Cairess senses the psychological barrier around it beginning to weaken.

According to him, progress in elite sport often begins with proof. Once one or two athletes demonstrate what is possible, perceptions shift — and limits move.

That shift is already visible across Britain’s marathon scene.

Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee produced a remarkable 2:06:38 in Valencia in December 2024 to become the second-fastest British marathon runner in history, briefly moving ahead of Cairess. In a detail that reflects the supportive spirit within this emerging generation, Cairess himself played a pacing role during that race.

Behind them, Mahamed Mahamed and Philip Sesemann have both recorded performances within two minutes of Farah’s national record in recent seasons, while Patrick Dever added fresh excitement with an outstanding fourth-place finish on his marathon debut in New York.

For Cairess, this collective progress is not coincidence — it is momentum.

When athletes see their peers succeeding, belief grows. Training standards rise. Confidence deepens. What once felt exceptional begins to feel attainable. He describes it as a snowball effect: success multiplying through shared inspiration.

That momentum will converge on Sunday, 27 April 2025, at the TCS London Marathon, where Cairess will line up alongside Mahamed, Sesemann, and Dever. With Yee returning his primary focus to triathlon, Cairess carries the responsibility of leading the British charge — not only against the clock, but against the world’s best Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes.

Yet his mindset remains outward-looking. National records matter, but global competitiveness matters more. His ambition is not simply to become Britain’s fastest — it is to compete fearlessly at the very highest level of marathon running.

The sense of renewal extends to the women’s field as well. Eilish McColgan returns to London after an impressive marathon debut last year, where she set a Scottish record and demonstrated her potential over the distance. She joins a race featuring five of the ten fastest British women in history, highlighting the depth currently developing across British endurance running.