The Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion stunned everyone with comeback for the ages at the London Marathon

For the tens of thousands of runners who lined up at the 2023 TCS London Marathon, a sense of apprehension and trepidation wouldve likely set in, with 26.2 long and arduous miles ahead and the realisation that the final 10km would be as much a mental as a physical challenge.

Elite athletes, who have won global medals and received international acclaim for their achievements, arguably get those feelings but they know their ceiling is much higher. A sense of admission that they are not ready for the battle could be perceived as a sign of weakness. Especially when their competitors are the best of the best.

The elite womens field at this past Sundays London Marathon contained the greatest line-up for a female marathon in history. It included world record-holder Brigid Kosgei, Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir and world record-holder over 10km plus 2022 London Marathon champion Yalemzerf Yehualaw, to name just a few.

At the pre-event press conference, the trio were relatively poker-faced. Game faces on and not a lot of eye-contact. One athlete took a slightly less cautious approach. Sifan Hassan.

Sifan Hassan (London Marathon Events)

An Olympic champion over 5,000m and 10,000m, Hassans CV is stellar. The 30-year-old Dutch athlete is also a double world champion in the 1500m and 10,000m, holds the mile world record and has perhaps the greatest range of any female athlete in history. Hassan has run 1:56.81 over 800m, is the European record-holder over 1500m, 3000m, 5000m, 10,000m, 5km and half-marathon. Oh, and shes claimed a European cross-country title.

Even though this was her first marathon, you mightve expected an athlete of that calibre to be confident of upsetting the odds. Not a bit of it.

Why the hell did I decide to do the marathon? Hassan remarked to the 50 odd journalists in the room just two days before the event. It was a line more synonymous with the runners starting a couple of hours behind the elites but to hear it from a double Olympic champion? The candour was unexpected but not unsurprising.

Hassan, both on and off the track, is not your average athlete. At the Tokyo Olympics two years ago she attempted to be the first athlete in history to claim a treble of golds in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m.

She won bronze in the former and won the latter two. Why do I have to make myself so stressed? Hassan stated after Tokyo. Well, quite.

Sifan Hassan wins the 5000m (Getty)

When asked why she wanted to take on the marathon, the multiple global track champion said she was curious and wanted another challenge. The fact that Ramadan (March 22 April 20) fell in such close proximity to the London Marathon was another obstacle to overcome. Hassan told AW that she did a 41km long run during Ramadan, meaning she was hardly able to practice drinking fluids.

Hassan arrived in London, primarily to test herself in uncharted waters.

She has a childish enthusiasm which comes across as incredibly innocent yet there is a steely determination beneath the surface. Its like Hassan always feels like 99.9% isnt enough and constantly has to prove herself, even though shes already achieved success on mesmeric proportions. Both enigmatic and eccentric, its impossible not to like or watch her.

All of her personality traits, from the bonkers to the brilliant, unfolded in the London Marathon as individual  five kilometre splits turned into different chapters of the Hassan storybook.

For the first 15km or so, Hassan kept up with the leading pack and they went through the mark in a steady 48:43. Kosgei succumbed to a previous knee and hamstring injury and dropped out after three minutes. But such was the strength in depth of the field, Hassans path to an unlikely victory was narrow.

Sifan Hassan at 20km in London Marathon (LM Events)

Then, around 17km, her left side tightened and the marathon debutant stopped not once but twice to stretch it. In preparation for London, she had actually switched from Ethiopias dirt roads to a 20km run on asphalt, which subsequently aggravated her quad. That flared up but in typical Hassan style, she later stated that she forgot to ask her physio to tape up her whole left leg on the morning of the race.

By 25km, Hassan had fallen back 28 seconds behind the leaders and looked in trouble.

Yet, the combination of a relatively pedestrian 5km split of 16:28 at the front and sheer willpower from Hassan, saw her rejoin them at 30km and even a surge from Jepchirchir, which initially saw the pack establish a 14 second gap over Hassan by 35km, wasnt enough to remove the threat of the Dutchwoman.

The only thing that could stop Hassan was herself.

She was the first to admit that it was going to be difficult to stomach fluids in the marathon due to the fact a large percentage of her training block took place during Ramadan. Thats if you can find the bottle.

As Hassan, Jepchirchir, Yehualaw and Alemu Megertu passed the London Eye, the debutant was blind to the last and crucial drinks station at 40km and narrowly avoided a collision with a support motorbike.

Hassan then bizarrely offered Yehualaw her own drink but last years winner was full of focus and barely glanced over.

Sifan Hassan wins the London Marathon (LM Events)

As they approached The Mall, Yehualaw dropped off and Hassan, locked in a battle with Jepchirchir and Megertu, kicked away in the same fashion which has seen her win Olympic, world and European titles. The final 50m was Hassans easiest assignment.

Born in Ethiopia, she moved to the Netherlands aged 15 as a refugee and lived in a shelter for asylum seekers.

Never giving up wasnt an option and Hassan has that mentality instilled into her head. She told AW that she had thought about stopping at 20km but a voice inside urged her to continue. The reaction when she hit the tape to win was of someone who won a marathon but didnt know quite how they did it.

I was telling myself I was stupid to run this marathon, Hassan told the worlds media after the race. I even cried because I was so scared. What was wrong with me?

The ridiculous nature of the comeback and the relatability to the everyday runner made Hassan that popular she made the front pages of the UK national newspapers.

The headline to describe her victory in London could be taken out of a movie script. Run, Sifan, Run.

With so many incidents and storylines it is hard to remember a more action-packed weekend since the event began in 1981

Feared disruption from environmental protestors did not materialise at this years TCS London Marathon but the event still produced more than enough drama. Perhaps more than on any occasion in its long history.

As the dust settles on the British capital, here are nine storylines from the 2023 race.

Hassan the drama queen

Surely there has never been an elite womens race so packed with excitement? Dropped from the lead group and finding herself around half a minute behind the leaders, Sifan Hassan stopped to stretch before mounting an incredible comeback. With 2km to go she almost collided with a motorbike after suddenly veering across the road to grab a drink. Soon afterwards she won a three-way sprint down The Mall to claim victory on her debut. It was brilliant, breathless stuff.

Sifan Hassan (LM Events)

An unpopular theory

Hassans 2:18:33 was one of the slowest winning times in recent years. If Brigid Kosgei had rolled up in her 2:14 shape, or Peres Jepchirchir, Almaz Ayana or Yalamzerf Yehualaw in their previous 2:17 form, would the Dutch athlete have been able to get back into contention? Paula Radcliffe from 20 years earlier would have been almost an entire kilometre further up the road, for example.

On Sunday the leaders were on schedule to run 2:17 for much of the race as well but slowed, unwittingly allowing Hassan to catch them. Still, the Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion could only beat the best on the day and, who knows, she may have run even harder and faster if shed needed to!

Off-road controversies

Away from the races themselves there was intrigue and controversy behind the scenes relating to commercial aspects alone. Eilish McColgans much-publicised sponsorship dispute aside, the mens winner Kelvin Kiptum appears to have got mixed up in an even bigger row with the Kenyan racing in Nike despite reportedly having a deal with Chinese brand Qiaodan. Then there was the strange case of Kosgei, who dropped out only three minutes, sparking theories that she only started to fulfil some of her race fee requirements.

Kelvin Kiptum (LM Events)

Kawauchis crazy racing calendar

The Japanese runner Yuki Kawauchi has earned a reputation for being a prolific racer. He often runs a marathon roughly once every month but in 2018 sprang to fame by winning the Boston Marathon mens title. In London on Sunday he was the fastest non-elite competitor with 2:13:18. Impressively he has already run three marathons already in 2023, too, with victories at the Ishigakijima (2:18:05) and Saga Sakura (2:11:32) events and 12th place at the Osaka Marathon (2:07:35).

Innes FitzBrilliant

Innes FitzGerald is undoubtedly the most exciting young distance runner in Britain right now. Just 17, she has swept all before her in recent months with victories in the English Schools, English National and Inter-Counties cross-country championships before successfully defending her Mini London Marathon under-17 crown.

She is also one of the most interesting athletes in the country, too. Her environmental principles are well known after she chose to skip a trip to the World Cross Country Championships in Australia this year due to aircraft emissions. But on Sunday the West Country athlete headed from the Mini Marathon to the big one protest in central London where she was part of the Champions for Earth group at the demonstration.

Mini marvels

Last year the Mini London Marathon was moved from Sunday to Saturday to give it its own slot in the spotlight rather than being a buried and potentially over-looked on the main marathon day. It has proved a good move and is the only realistic way that organisers can also grow the event from its current 7000 participants to an ambitious target of 50,000.

Next year they should consider expanding the post-race presentation area, though. Currently the ceremony unfolds fairly quietly in an enclosed area close to the finish line and features only the championship and London Boroughs race winners, with stars like Eliud Kipchoge and Jake Wightman presenting prizes. AW hears that a few silver and bronze medallists have felt a little left out, though, after being handed a voucher as their reward and then told they are free to leave.

Mini London Marathon (LM Events)

Relentless rise of super shoes (and CGMs)

If you felt self-conscious as a club runner wearing super shoes three or four years ago, the scenario has flipped on its head. It is increasingly hard to spot any of the quicker or more committed runners wearing traditional shoes. Indeed, even in the Mini Marathon the majority of kids are wearing fast footwear these days.

While its unlikely this will catch on in quite the same way, another trend seems to be the use of continuous glucose monitors (or CGMs) with runners like Sifan Hassan sporting a sensor on her upper left arm. These help runners plot their pre and mid-race fuelling strategies and are becoming all the rage with runners like Eliud Kipchoge and Eilish McColgan also using them. Look out for an in-depth review on them on the AW website this week.

2023 TCS London Marathon

Kudos to Farah

Amid all the medals and the media coverage, its easy to forget that Mo Farah is a tough little character who never shies away from a scrap. Hes threatened to get involved in charity boxing in the past and of course his gritty nature has helped him endure countless gruelling training sessions and tough races. Running long distances, after all, is a pain game.

We were reminded of this on Sunday when despite an underwhelming 10km warm-up race in Gabon a fortnight earlier he started the race in determined fashion and, rising to the occasion, was still leading Emile Cairess as the No.1 Brit at halfway. Following this Father Time caught up with him and the 40-year-old faded to third Brit as Phil Sesemann out-kicked him in the final metres. He resisted the temptation to drop out, though, and his 2:10:28 smashed Andy Davies British M40 record by almost four minutes as he went down fighting.

Mo Farah and Phil Sesemann (LM Events)

Thommo tears up

Finally, my moment of the weekend goes to another British veteran runner, Chris Thompson, who unexpectedly choked up during this post-race chat below on Sunday. Thommo, 42, wears his heart on his sleeve and, while he might not be the fastest British marathon man these days, he is still running impressive times and remains the undisputed and undefeated champion of media interviews.

Brit takes an astonishing six minutes off of PB and goes sixth on UK all-time list

Samantha Harrison produced one of the best runs of her career and took apart her previous marathon best of 2:32:22 in the process at the TCS London Marathon (April 23).

The 28-year-old clocked 2:25:59 to finish 11th in a race which saw Sifan Hassan make one of the greatest comebacks in marathon history to claim a maiden title on debut in 2:18:33.

For Harrison, it was about running her own race and going inside the Olympic qualifying standard of 2:26:50. The qualification period is between November 1 2022 and April 30 2024, meaning Harrison is now in a prime position for Paris.

She also aims to represent Great Britain on the track in the 10,000m at the World Championships in Budapest this summer.

Harrison, who recently went fourth on the UK half marathon all-time list at the Berlin Half (April 2), recording a mark of 67:17, and paid tribute to her coaching team after a remarkable run over 26.2 miles in the British capital.

Samantha Harrison (LM Events)

You just never know with the marathon, its about what you do on the day, she said. I just felt good with the majority of the race and that last eight or nine miles is always a tester. I did go off at a slightly quick pace but I felt good. When youre on your own its tough but I go through it.

The training is all set-up for the Paris Olympics next year and Ive managed to nail the marathon standard today.

The crowd was incredible and really do get you through. I had friends and family in the background and that makes it full of pleasure. They are all around that last five or six miles and youve just go to get the adrenaline to put your through.

In going sixth on the UK all-time list, Harrison is now only behind Paula Radcliffe, Jess Piasecki, Mara Yamauchi, Charlotte Purdue and Veronique Marot.

With plans to do the Valencia Marathon on December 3, one of the quickest in the world, you wouldnt bet against Harrison taking at least another few minutes off her 2:25 mark.

Harrisons 5km splits in London were: 16:48, 34:06, 51:18, 68:21, 1:25:09, 1:42:37, 2:00:32, 2:18:15 to a finish of 2:25:29.

Leeds man endures bad patch after missing energy drinks but still goes No.3 on the UK all-time rankings with 2:08:07

With Emile Cairess running a fine debut of 2:08:07 and Phil Sesemann, Mo Farah and Chris Thompson making the top 10 in the mens race on Sunday, it was a good day for British marathon running.

Eamonn Martins proud record of being the last British man to win in London has lasted 30 years and doesnt look like being beaten anytime soon. The gulf between the worlds best in the shape of Sundays 2:01:25 winner Kelvin Kiptum and the leading domestic challengers is intimidatingly large. Still, progress was made at the 2023 event with Cairess going No.3 on the UK all-time rankings behind Farah and Steve Jones, while Sesemann improved his best by two minutes.

Cairess, 25, believes he can run faster in his next marathon in Valencia at the end of this year too. He was disappointed not to run sub-2:08 in London after running out of gas in the later stages. Missing his drinks at 10km and 30km did not help. His dream goal, meanwhile, was an ambitious sub-2:07 run.

I felt really good until about 38km and then the wheels came off big time and the last two miles was a real struggle, he said. I think I pushed a little too hard between 30-35km.

I felt good at that stage and because Mo was with me I wanted to create a little gap, but I was a bit naïve as it came back to bite me. I should have maintained the pace a bit more evenly and I could have run well inside 2:08 if Id been more patient.

Emile Cairess (LM Events)

Cairess looked pretty fresh in his post-race interview with AW but he said it looks were deceiving. Im in a world of trouble, he smiled. My muscles are absolutely knackered.

He added: It was a bit of a death march to the finish.

He was bombarded with questions from journalists about beating Farah but Cairess handled them patiently and told AW: I was just treating him as another competitor. I was just trying to beat him in the same way I would try to beat anyone else.

Cairess was paced by Maru Teferi, an Israeli runner who has won European marathon silver and triumphed in Fukuoka last year. He said Teferis help was superb, but what will he change ahead of his next marathon? Id strap some gels to my bottles as I missed a couple of bottles. I missed them at 10km and 30km. I had a spare gel early in the race but didnt have one at 30km.

Cairess began being guided by coach Renato Canova 12 months ago and the Italian was almost certainly watching the event unfold on television at home. Hes coached athletes right to the top of the sport and its my ambition to get there one day, Cairess said.

The Leeds man will probably take to the track this summer but considers himself a fully fledged marathon runner now. I feel like a marathon runner in my mentality and physiology, he said.

Cairesss training partner Sesemann is just as committed to 26.2 miles and Sunday was his fourth such event in 18 months. I ran a two-minute PB and its what Ive felt Ive been capable of doing. I negative splitted the marathon too, said Sesemann after his 2:10:23.

Sesemann out-kicked world 1500m champion Jake Wightman in an indoor 3000m in January and here found himself out-sprinting Farah in the closing metres. He was there and a good character to aim for and the support on the roadside was amazing so I thought I really have to try to get him, Sesemann smiled.

Training had gone really apart, apart from the taper, which is horrible. So I was really pleased to feel good today, he added.

On his friend Cairess, the part-time junior doctor said: For a debut its really good running but after training with him I know hes been more than capable of that time.

For Farah it was his last marathon and the multiple global track champion and British marathon record-holder spoke only once to the media post-race during a press conference hosted by Tim Hutchings. The 40-year-old looked a little chastened after his 2:10:25 but he lived up to his old motto of go hard or go home by blasting through 10km in 29:53 (almost a minute quicker than his 10km in Gabon two weeks earlier) and through halfway as lead Brit in 63:38 before hanging on grittily in the second half of the race when dropping out must have been a temptation.

Mo Farah (LM Events)

Farah will race again in the Great Manchester 10km and Great North Run half-marathon. Even more of an evergreen runner is Thompson, who finished looking relatively fresh in 2:11:50 and was immediately speculating about his next marathon aged 42.

The popular veteran runner looked visibly emotional in the final stages and he agreed, choking up briefly when he was quizzed about it. I forgot how there are people in London the whole way for 26 miles of cheering. There were so many people shouting Thommo or Chris. I feel like Im on borrowed time and feel so lucky to still be doing it and working hard and being able to do it. I was tearing up inside.

Thompson wears his heart on his sleeve and added: I ran the race well for the fitness that I was in so I had room at the end for an emotional response. Id like to have run 2:10 it would have been awesome but Im pleased as I had such a funky build up experimenting with lots of things so we didnt know what to expect really.

What did he mean by funky? Just different types of training, really. I went to altitude and did some shorter runs there with faster bits for example. Next time I think Ill train more aggressively in certain areas, he added, as the elusive quest for the perfect marathon continues.

Behind Thompson, Luke Caldwell was next Brit home in 2:13:29 followed by Weynay Ghebrsilasie with 2:15:41 and Ben Connor and Ross Braden who both clocked 2:15:47.

Kenyan gives Eliud Kipchoges world record a fright as he shows tremendous closing speed to run 2:01:25 on Sunday

Kelvin Kiptum produced a masterclass of marathon running to win the TCS London Marathon in a blistering 2:01:25. It is the second fastest time in history behind Eliud Kipchoges world record of 2:01:09 and came after an unprecedentedly quick second half of 59:45.

The 23-year-old made his move 31km into the race as he surged through a drinks station to build an immediate lead. Fellow Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor gave chase and wound up runner-up but his 2:04:23 left him almost three minutes behind the runaway winner.

Tamirat Tola, the world champion, was third in 2:04:59 with two fellow Ethiopians, Leul Gebrsilasie and Seifu Tura, fourth and fifth in 2:05:45 and 2:06:38 as the first Brit, Emile Cairess, was next home in a fine 2:08:07 on his debut.

Mens leaders (LM Events)

Rarely has London seen such a dominant winner of the mens race, as Kiptum scorched around the increasingly wet roads on a damp morning in the British capital. After having passed 10km in 29:12 and halfway in 61:40 with seven rivals still in contact at that stage he blitzed the 19th mile in 4:33 the quickest of the race followed by a 4:23 as the lead group splintered.

At this stage the course record of 2:02:37 looked set to fall but Kiptum kept getting quicker, covering the 5km section from 30-35km in 13:49. His 22nd mile of 4:21 and 24th mile of 4:23 were also notable and well inside the hallowed sub-two-hour pace.

Kelvin Kiptum (LM Events)

For those who saw Kiptum race in Valencia in December it will not have been an enormous surprise. On that occasion he ran the fastest ever marathon debut of 2:01:53 a time that only Kipchoge and Kenenisa Bekele had ever beaten. The latter, incidentally, was in the mix on Sunday until halfway but dropped out after 25km.

More to follow.

More Articles ...

  1. Sifan Hassan wins London Marathon rich in drama
  2. Course records smashed 40 years on from first wheelchair race
  3. Innes FitzGerald impresses again at Mini London Marathon
  4. Bad storm forces Eilish McColgan to pull out of London Marathon
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