Emile Cairess’s hopes of becoming the fastest British runner over 26.2 miles have been put on hold after he was forced to pull out of the London Marathon with an ankle injury.
Cairess, who finished third in the race last year before coming fourth in the Paris Olympics, had been targeting Mo Farah’s national record of 2hr 5min 11sec. However, he will now miss April’s race due to an ongoing ankle tendon issue.
The elite women’s field, meanwhile, includes the world-record holder Ruth Chepngetich, the Olympic champion Sifan Hassan and the former world record-holder Tigst Assefa. There is also strong British interest in both races with the Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee and the Commonwealth 10,000m champion Eilish McColgan running their first marathons.
Meanwhile, the Kenyan marathon runner Brimin Kipkorir has been provisionally suspended after he tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO. Kipkorir won the Sydney Marathon in 2024 in a course-record time of 2:06:18, and the Frankfurt Marathon in 2022 and 2023.
