Alex Yee and Ben Dijkstra had been crushed by future footballer Jamal Lewis on The Mall in 2013 with Emile Cairess and Josh Kerr nicely down the sector
Like many British marathon runners in London this weekend, Alex Yee’s long-distance love affair with the race started as an adolescent within the Mini occasion.
The Olympic triathlon champion didn’t have all of it his personal method again in 2013, although, with victory within the under-15 boys race at Mini London Marathon as a substitute going to Jamal Lewis.
If an image is price a thousand phrases then Mark’s Shearman’s picture on the prime of this text actually falls into that class.
Winner that day by three seconds in 15:04, Lewis went on to play soccer as a left again for Norwich Metropolis and Newcastle United along with incomes 36 caps for Northern Eire.
Runner-up behind Lewis – and likewise forward of Yee – was Ben Dijkstra (pictured simply to the left of Lewis’s proper shoulder). Like Yee, he moved into triathlon – and should have loved comparable success if it weren’t for harm – however as an adolescent he loved super success on the cross nation circuit, that includes on the quilt of AW after successful one in all his a number of English Faculties titles.
Yee was after all no slouch as a teenage runner both, ending seven seconds behind Dijkstra that day in London earlier than happening to win Olympic triathlon gold in Paris 11 years later. There have been fairly just a few attention-grabbing names nicely behind him in London, too.
Alex Yee (Getty)
They included Emile Cairess in ninth, Hugo Milner in tenth and Mahamed Mahamed in twenty first. Cairess was prime Brit in London final yr, after all, earlier than ending fourth within the Olympic marathon in Paris. Milner has excelled on the cross-country circuit in latest winters along with making his mark in triathlon, whereas Mahamed was fourth in London final yr and can be aiming for the same efficiency this weekend.
Even additional behind, a sure Josh Kerr positioned a modest forty seventh. But simply 10 years later he would outkick Jacob Ingebrigtsen to win the world 1500m title in Budapest.
Josh Kerr (Getty)
Wanting via previous outcomes from occasions just like the Mini London Marathon is endlessly fascinating. The English Faculties Championships, which celebrates its a hundredth anniversary this yr, is one other comparable occasion the place future stars are actually operating, leaping and throwing in each nook of the stadium, however you don’t realise simply how nice they’re till some years later.
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Simply one in all many examples is Maro Itoje, who’s making headlines proper now as England rugby captain. As a teenage shot putter, although, he completed runner-up within the English Faculties twice.
My favorite all-time instance, nevertheless, is Bob Anderson, who received English Faculties javelin gold in 1963 earlier than selecting up a ‘miniature spear’ to turn into world darts champion in 1988.
Dwell protection of Saturday’s Mini London Marathon…
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