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Britain's new marathon star Emile Cairess to run 2025 TCS London Marathon
Great Britain's newest marathon star Emile Cairess will lead the domestic
challenge against the best racers in the world at the 2025 TCS London
Marathon on Sunday 27 April.
Cairess, who finished third at the 2024 TCS London Marathon and fourth in
the 2024 Paris Olympic Games marathon, spearheads the British entrants,
alongside David Weir and Eden Rainbow-Cooper, who will compete in the
wheelchair races, and Scottish star Eilish McColgan who will make her
long-awaited debut over 26.2 miles.
Yorkshire's Cairess has had a meteoric rise since making his debut over
26.2 miles at the 2023 TCS London Marathon where he finished sixth in
2:08:07, becoming the fastest British debutant of all time over the famous
distance.
The 27-year-old went up another level again in 2024. First he stormed
through the field in the closing stages of the 2024 TCS London Marathon to
finish a stunning third overall. It was only the second time a British male
athlete had finished on the podium (outside the para events) this century,
after Sir Mo Farah's third place in 2018. Furthermore, Cairess's finishing
time of 2:06:46 placed him second behind Farah on the all-time list of the
fastest British marathoners.
Cairess enhanced his reputation further still at last year's Paris Olympic
Games where again he found inner reserves of strength to come through the
field on that gruelling marathon course to finish fourth overall, Britain's
best result in an Olympic marathon since 2004.
Now Cairess is looking to continue his ascendancy at the 2025 TCS London
Marathon, where Farah's British record of 2:05:11 could well be under
threat.
Cairess said: "I had a great year in 2024 with some really positive
results. My focus is always on getting the best out of myself. My runs at
the TCS London Marathon and at the Paris Olympic Games were really
satisfying and shows the hard work is paying off. I love racing the TCS
London Marathon because it brings together the best athletes in the world.
I want to be racing these guys on the big occasions and London provides
that opportunity. I have three marathons of experience now and I'm still
learning about the event, which makes me even more excited and positive for
the future. I'm looking forward to putting in a good block of training and
seeing what I can do on Sunday 27 April."
Among those Cairess will be lining up alongside at the 2025 TCS London
Marathon is fellow Brit and Olympic Games triathlon champion Alex Yee, who
is making his marathon debut; Olympic marathon champion, Tamirat Tola
(ETH); and defending TCS London Marathon champion, Alex Mutiso (KEN).
Other Brits in the field will include two further Paris Olympians: Mahamed
Mahamed, who was a stunning fourth in last year's TCS London Marathon, and
Phil Sesemann. Marc Scott will return to London after making his marathon
debut at last year's TCS London Marathon where he finished 11th, while Jack
Rowe, the winner of the past two editions of The Big Half, will make his
debut over 26.2 miles.
McColgan will make her much-anticipated marathon debut in the elite women's
race after recovering from an injury-hit number of years. The 34-year-old,
whose mum, Liz, won the London Marathon in 1996, was scheduled to compete
for the first time over the marathon distance in 2023, off the back of her
famous gold medal in the 10,000m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in
Birmingham. But injuries have delayed that marathon debut and now she is
looking forward to finally showing what she can do on the famous London
course.
McColgan said: "I'm really looking forward to making my marathon debut in
London this year. After a tough 12 months of injury, I'm excited to finally
toe the line and start the next chapter of my career on the roads.
"I've always had such incredible support on the streets of London when
racing over the 10KM and half marathon events, so I can't wait to
experience what the full TCS London Marathon atmosphere has in store."
Other British women racing include Rose Harvey, who finished last year's
Paris Olympic marathon despite sustaining a broken leg during the race;
Charlotte Purdue, the third-fastest British female marathoner of all time;
Phily Bowden, who went ninth on the all-time British list when she ran
2:25:47 at the 2024 BMW Berlin Marathon; and Lucy Reid, who ran 2:26:35 on
her marathon debut in Malaga in December 2024.
Brits in the wheelchair races include David Weir, racing the London
Marathon for an incredible 26th time in a row. The 45-year-old, who has won
the London Marathon a record eight times, announced that the Paris
Paralympic Games would be his last track competition, but his passion for
racing on the roads shows no sign of slowing down and he showed he is still
very much competitive on the world stage by finishing second at the 2024
TCS New York City Marathon.
In the women's event, Eden Rainbow-Cooper, who won her first Abbott World
Marathon Major last year when she tamed the famous hills of the Boston
Marathon, will be looking to challenge again on the London course. The
23-year-old, who competed at her first Paralympic Games last summer, has a
best-placed finish of third at the London Marathon from 2022.
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