Press Release - London Marathon - 1/16/20

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

              British athletes fight for Olympic spots at 
                   2020 Virgin Money London Marathon

Olympic places will be up for grabs for British athletes at the 2020 Virgin 
Money London Marathon and the fight to secure places on the Team GB flight 
to Tokyo will be one of the most captivating storylines of the 2020 race.

The British women's race, in particular, promises to be a thriller with 
four athletes already having secured the Olympic qualifying time and 
several more within range of it.

Jess Piasecki, Charlotte Purdue, Steph Twell and Steph Davis all ran inside 
the qualifying time of 2:29:30 in 2019 and all four will be on the Start 
Line of the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday 26 April.

The equation is simple for these four athletes: if they finish in the top 
two places in the British race, then their ticket to Tokyo 2020 is 
confirmed. The third remaining place on the Team GB marathon team would 
then come down to the selectors' decision.

Purdue is the reigning British champion from last year's Virgin Money 
London Marathon where she finished 10th overall in a fantastic time of 
2:25:38, which made her then the third fastest Briton of all time.

Let's do this, @charliepurdue! (Twitter)

But last November Piasecki went even quicker, running 2:25:28 to win the 
Florence Marathon in just her second attempt at the distance and the first 
time she had completed the 26.2 miles.

Twell ran 2:26:40 in the Frankfurt Marathon last October while Stephanie 
Davis knocked close to five minutes off her best at the Valencia Marathon 
last December when she ran 2:27:40. Twell's time makes her the sixth 
fastest Briton in history while Davis is the ninth fastest.

Purdue, the defending British champion, said: “My aim is to defend my 
British title and hopefully make the Olympic team for my first Olympic 
Games. It's definitely not going to be easy with the strength in British 
women's marathon running at the moment. But I think that is a good thing 
and I'm happy for it to be a hard race and a hard battle.”

The British men's field is just as competitive but there is no one in the 
field who has the qualifying time. Callum Hawkins has been pre-selected by 
British Athletics for the Olympic Marathon which means there is one 
definite place up for grabs for the first British man who crosses the line 
inside the qualifying time of 2:11:30.

Dewi Griffiths is the fastest Brit in the field with his best of 2:09:49 
set in Frankfurt in 2017 while Derek Hawkins will be hoping to join brother 
Callum in Team GB, as he did at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Other notable British names on the entry list include the British 10000m 
champion Ben Connor, who will be stepping up to the marathon for the first 
time, and former European Championships 10000m silver medallist Chris 
Thompson.

Full list of British women

NAME               COUNTRY   PB
Jess Piasecki      GBR       2:25.28
Charlotte Purdue   GBR       2:25.38
Steph Twell        GBR       2:26.40
Steph Davis        GBR       2:27.40
Lily Partridge     GBR       2:29.24
Tracy Barlow       GBR       2:30.42
Tish Jones         GBR       2:31.00
Jenny Spink        GBR       2:31.14
Hayley Carruthers  GBR       2:32.42
Eleanor Davies     GBR       2:33.24
Helen Davies       GBR       2:34.06
Rebecca Murray     GBR       2:39.37
Alice Wright       GBR       Debut

Full list of British men

NAME               COUNTRY   PB
Dewi Griffiths     GBR       2:09.49
Chris Thompson     GBR       2:11.19
Derek Hawkins      GBR       2:12.49
Charlie Hulson     GBR       2:14.22
Joshua Griffiths   GBR       2:14.25
Nick Earl          GBR       2:14.38
Robbie Simpson     GBR       2:14.56
Nicholas Torry     GBR       2:15.04
Peter Le Grice     GBR       2:16.22
Adam Hickey        GBR       2:16.56
Aaron Scott        GBR       2:16.57
Paul Navesey       GBR       2:17.16
Ollie Lockley      GBR       2:25.28
Andy Vernon        GBR       NM
Ben Connor         GBR       Debut
Josh Lunn          GBR       Debut

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