Tucked away in a corner of Iten, Kenya, Emile Cairess is plotting an overdue statement. And the London Marathon 2026 is the stage Great Britain’s best marathon prospect hopes to finally convert potential into a performance that might finally topple Sir Mo Farah and his prestigious men’s record mark over 26.2 miles.
Cairess, 28, who is methodically ticking off the miles and days at altitude in east Africa, labels Farah as “the greatest ever British endurance athlete,” with the Bradford man displaying immense potential over the iconic distance, having finished third at the 2024 London Marathon and then fourth at the Paris Olympics.
The art of the marathon involves reaching the start line and conditioning the body to endure punishment over more than two hours, something Cairess has since confronted. A combination of tonsillitis and an ankle problem forced him to withdraw from last year’s London Marathon, and the searing heat and humidity of Tokyo denied him a finish at last year’s World Championships.
The carrot of Farah’s time, 2:05:11, brings renewed excitement, and despite underlining the need to avoid injury and the prestige of contending for a podium finish, Cairess appears determined to fulfil his potential on the streets of London.
“The 2024 London Marathon was the last time I approached a marathon with a primary focus on how fast I can run, so I’m looking forward to doing that again. I’m still there to look for a good position. The first job is to get to the start line healthy. If you’re not on the start line, then you can’t perform,” Cairess explains, before revealing his mindset surrounding his pacing duties at the Valencia Marathon last year. While helping friends Phil Sesemann and Alex Yee, who finished in 2:07.11 and 2:06:38, Cairess closed in on the full distance and his own personal best (2:06:46).
“My first job was as the pacemaker for the 2:06 group. Once I got to 30km, my mind was more on Phil, especially because I’m very close with Phil and we’re really good friends. I never intended to finish, to be honest. If I did finish, and I picked it up a little bit, it would just have been a small PB, and I feel like that’s not reflective of where I’m at. If I saw my name on the results and it said 2:06, I would have been disappointed. So, yeah, definitely wasn’t tempted to finish.”
While Cairess continues to be compared with Farah, his competitive instinct might align better with a blossoming domestic rivalry with Patrick Dever, fresh from a fourth-place debut (2:08:58) finish at the notoriously tricky New York Marathon course, also confirmed for London in April.
Dever finished one place behind Albert Korir, who was suspended earlier this month for the presence of a prohibited substance, in the Big Apple and provides the prospect of a fascinating domestic battle with Cairess in the coming years.
“I was very proud of my debut in New York,” said the 29-year-old Dever. “It showed I can be competitive in the best marathons in the world. I have had many battles with Emile over the years, on many surfaces, but obviously never over the marathon distance. We are close in age and have raced each other many times, so it will be good to do it again on the big stage.”
Sesemann, too, will line up in London once again this year, with Mahamed Mahamed (2:07:05) adding further depth to the British race.
“I think it’s nice to see that we’re getting a much better standard than perhaps five or six years ago in British running,” says Cairess, who will run the Malaga Half Marathon in March in preparation for London. “Four athletes now under 2:08, and even though Paddy hasn’t run as quick a time, he’s only done one. And it was a really good race in New York, which was definitely worth a lot quicker. The faster British people run, the better for everyone. But I’m always keeping my eyes forward and trying to compete with the top Kenyans and Ethiopians.
“And that’s where I’m looking. I’m not really focused on being the best British I think that kind of mentality leads to, yeah, poor performances on a bigger scale.”
The women’s domestic field offers an unpredictable race, too, with Eilish McColgan returning after an encouraging 2:24:25 on debut for eighth last year. Charlotte Purdue, Rose Harvey, Abbie Donnelly and Jess Warner-Judd will all be fancied to contend in the collective effort to break the 2:20 barrier once again, 21 years after Paula Radcliffe last did so in London.
“Now I’ve got one marathon under my belt, I’m excited to be able to use the experiences of last year to kick on again,” McColgan said. “British women’s marathon running is really strong at the moment so it’s going to be a great occasion for us to show that in a world-class field.”
2026 TCS London Marathon: British male entry list
– Emile Cairess (GBR, 2:06:46)
– Mahamed Mahamed (GBR, 2:07:05)
– Philip Sesemann (GBR, 2:07:10)
– Patrick Dever (GBR, 2:08:58)
– Dewi Griffiths (GBR, 2:09:49)
– Weynay Ghebresilasie (GBR, 2:09:50)
– Tewelde Menges (GBR, 2:09:58)
– George James (GBR, 2:10:10)
– Jake Smith (GBR, 2:11:00)
– Marc Scott (GBR, 2:11:19)
– Jack Rowe (GBR, 2:12:31)
– Andrew Fyfe (GBR, 2:13:20)
– Alex Milne (GBR, 2:14:03)
– Peter Le Grice (GBR, 2:14:45)
– Sean Hogan (GBR, 2:14:51)
– Christopher Thomas (GBR, 2:14:55)
– Jake Barraclough (GBR, 2:14:55)
– Chris Perry (GBR, 2:14:57)
– David Bishop (GBR, 2:15:16)
– Charlie Sandison (GBR, 2:15:38)
– William Mycroft (GBR, 2:15:54)
– Alfie Manthorpe (GBR, Debut)
2026 TCS London Marathon: British women’s entry list
– Charlotte Purdue (GBR, PB 2:22:17)
– Rose Harvey (GBR, 2:23:21)
– Abbie Donnelly (GBR, 2:24:11)
– Eilish McColgan (GBR, 2:24:25)
– Jessica Warner-Judd (GBR, 2:24:45)
– Lucy Reid (GBR, 2:26:35)
– Louise Small (GBR, 2:27:48)
– Alice Wright (GBR, 2:28:48)
– Verity Hopkins (GBR, 2:31:19)
