WEEKEND PREVIEW | LONDON MARATHON

WEEKEND PREVIEW | LONDON MARATHON

The 40th edition of the London Marathon will be held this Sunday October 4 with three Australians featured - Brett Robinson, Sinead Diver and Ellie Pashley.

The event has a rich history and a prestigious race on the athletics calendar, regularly featuring the most prominent marathon runners, along with masses of recreational runners.

However, the 2020 instalment has been altered significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2020 London Marathon is being conducted as a ‘elites only’ race. There will be no mass participation athletes and there will be no fans or spectators in the ‘biosphere’ created around St James Park - where the athletes will complete 19 laps of the 2.15km circuit before the traditional finish on the Mall.

Australians have a history of success at the London Marathon - with Sinead Diver, Lisa-Jane Weightman, Nicole Carroll and Kerryn McCann all setting personal bests at the event.

Steve Moneghetti also finished in second place twice in the event - in 1989 and 1995. 

Brett Robinson will line in the mens field - albeit without training partner Jack Rayner who experienced tendon issues during training.

Robinson has enjoyed his strongest marathon preparation yet - and as a result has publicised his intentions to target Robert de Castella’s Australian record of 2:07:51.

The former track athlete has established himself as a force on the international road running scene - including a win at Japan’s Marugame Half Marathon in February in an Australian record of 59:57.

Robinson finished in 12th place in the 2019 London Marathon in a time of 2:10:55 - a time that gives him confidence he can run under 2:08 as soon as this Sunday.

This confidence has been enhanced by a structural change in his training by Coach Nic Bideau, who has shifted Robinson’s workload from three sessions and a long run to only two sessions and a long run - a change that has Robinson feeling better than ever.

The plan for Robinson is to split 64:00 at the halfway mark, before ramping it up over the final 12 kilometres to record a negative split and potential Australian record.

On the women’s side are Sinead Diver and Ellie Pashley.

Diver is no stranger to the London Marathon - where she finished in seventh place in 2019 in a personal best time of 2:24:11.

Diver returns in 2020 with a full block of marathon training under her belt, along with a half marathon result of 1:08:50 earlier in the year - a recipe for an exciting result.

Diver has even worked her training load around home schooling her children due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Admittedly, Diver suggests that everything will have to go right if she was to take down Benita Willis’ Australian record of 2:23:26 from 2006 - but she has given herself a good chance.

The Australian says that without racing she can gauge her fitness through her threshold sessions - including a gruelling 40km workout prescribed by Coach Nic Bideau.

Leaving her family behind with the uncertainty of returning home was not an easy sacrifice for Diver - and she says it is one that will drive her to do her absolute best in London.

With an Olympic qualifier to her name and sitting pretty in the Australian rankings, the race looms as a free swing for Diver to race aggressively in the strong field of women.

Ellie Pashley defied the odds of a foot niggle in June - proceeding to not put a foot wrong over a 10-week period in the lead up to London.

Pashley boasts a personal best of 2:26:21 over the distance which she recorded in Japan in 2019 - a vast improvement on her 2016 personal best of 2:46:11.

The 31-year-old has only one race under her belt in 2020 - a 1:10:35 half marathon recorded at Marugame in February, but her personal best from 2019 stands at 1:09:14.

Under the watchful eye of Coach Julian Spence, Pashley has incorporated some new training techniques - including hilly ‘tempo’ runs to expedite her fitness post injury.

Placing 8th in last year’s New York Marathon, Pashley is well accustomed to the event but is treating London as a stepping stone towards her best form after an interrupted lead in.

Pashley has her eyes set on next year’s Tokyo Olympics and is keeping her options open with the 10,000m - but a strong performance in London will give her a confidence boost over the longer distance.

The women start at 5:15pm (AEDT) on Sunday, whilst the men start at 8:15pm (AEDT).

FloTrack will be streaming the race - but a subscription is required.

Tune in to the Athletics Australia socials for updates throughout the race.

By: Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 2 October 2020