The changing of the guard usually takes place at Buckingham Palace. But at last year’s London Marathon it happened on Tower Bridge, as Emile Cairess blasted past Mo Farah on the way to finishing as the top British athlete in the race.
It was a hell of a performance given it was Cairess’s debut over 26.2 miles – and, strikingly, it also came without the benefit of top-end tech. While everyone else in the elite field was wearing the latest carbon-plated supershoes, Cairess came sixth in 2hrs 8 mins 7 secs in Takumi-Sen 9s, which have no carbon plate and are designed for 5km and 10km races. For good measure, he was also wearing a Casio watch that could have been made in the 1970s.
