Mohamed Mohamed and Patrick Dever were second and third in the all-time Great Britain rankings, but they were shocked to finish almost seven minutes behind the winner.
British men excelled on the roads of London on Sunday, with Mohamed Mohamed and Patrick Dever moving into 2nd and 3rd place in the UK all-time rankings. However, they were stunned by the news that the two-hour marathon had fallenleaving them around seven minutes off the best in the world.
Mahamed ran 2:06:14, with Dever four seconds behind. Mo Farah’s national record of 2:05:11 from Chicago in 2018 looks vulnerable in the near term, but Eamonn Martin’s reluctant reign as ‘the last Briton to win London’ seems to have survived for a few more years.
“I am absolutely proud to share the same course with them (Sebastian Save and Yomif Kejelca) on the same day,” said Mahamed. “I would never have imagined two men running under two hours this weekend. Kudos to them.”
The demons added. “It’s pretty mental…crazy. It was an honor to line up with some of those guys today.
“Being in the same race is special. People are coming around to it all the time, and with the talent here, it’s not surprising in a way.”
At the New York Marathon in November, Dever was affected by a cheating athlete when he finished fourth, but was promoted to third after Albert Korir failed a drug test. Soi does her best to invite experimentation on herself, but there are still cynics who remain suspicious.
Dever says: “All you can do is rely on testers to stay ahead of people who want to take short cuts. However, it’s not a problem that’s going away because people are always going to do it.”
Mahamed had to train during Ramadan in the run-up to the race, but happily overtook Alex Ayo and Emile Keires to finish 2nd in the UK rankings.
Yee was among the pacesetters on Sunday, while Keires had to withdraw from the race due to a build-up from injury on the eve of the event.
“To be top Briton here is amazing,” he said. “We all push each other under a lot of pressure and I felt good. The conditions were perfect and I was running a PB so I couldn’t be happier.”
Dever struggled with hamstring cramps in the latter stages but was delighted to finish at No 3 on the UK all-time list.
“It feels pretty good,” he said. “I’m second in the half marathon and second in the 10,000m (in the all-time UK rankings) so I’m happy to be putting in some good work over a range of distances.”
How did London compare to Dever’s New York debut? “I felt like no one was really doing anything for about 16 miles in New York, so I was relaxed,” he said, “but here I just walked right away and got into a rhythm.
“When there are guys on the road six minutes later, it’s not too demoralizing, but it’s pretty crazy.”
Mahamed and Dever finished a couple of steps behind Peter Lynch who set a great Irish record of 2:06:08.
Lynch trains in the US with the same Puma group as Dever and said: “I knew from the New York half (where he ran 59:52) a few weeks ago that the potential was there.
“My ears are still ringing from the noise of the process. I was just trying to feed off that energy, especially in the latter stages. This is my fourth marathon so I’m excited to push forward and see what I can do.”
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He added about the speeches lasting about two hours. “I knew it was going to be fast today with a possible world record, but to hear someone finish third and run two platforms is pretty crazy.”
Not far behind, Weinai Gebresilase was the next Briton in a PB of almost three minutes in 2:06:59, with Jack Rowe, also part of Dever’s and Lynch’s training group, in 2:07:47.
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Gebresilassie ran in the 3000m and was Eritrea’s flag-bearer at the 2012 Olympics as a teenager, but sought asylum after the Games and lived in Sunderland and Birmingham before settling in Scotland, where she was picked up by Shettleston Harriers.
Elsewhere among the British men, Tevelde Menges ran 2:10:48, Alfie Manthorpe 2:11:31, Jake Smith 2:12:19, Andrew Fyfe 2:12:36, Chris Perry 2:13:41, Alex Milne 2:13:51, 2:13:51, 4 weeks later, and Dan Nash: 2:09. In the Seville marathon.
