IT is make or break time for Belfast man Stephen Scullion at Sunday’s London marathon.
While most eyes will be on whether Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa can take down Mary Keitany’s women’s-only world record of 2:17:01, Scullion will be striving for a time of 2:08:10 - or better - to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
He could also book his passage to the French capital with a top five finish, but that looks unlikely given the quality of the field.
Scullion has been detailing his training since January of last year in a regular vlog on YouTube entitled ‘Road to Paris Olympics’, which has seen him running in locations as diverse as Hawaii and the Lagan towpath.
The Clonliffe Harrier ran in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but failed to finish the course and has been struggling to regain the form that saw him run a national record 2:09:49 in the Covid-affected London marathon of 2020.
However, he is not short experience at this level, having competed in marathons at the World Championships (43rd) in 2019 and Commonwealth Games (10th) in 2022. Nevertheless, some of his best form in recent years has been reserved for the Dublin marathon where he was runner-up (2:12:01) in 2019 and third (2:11:51) last October.
Those are his second and fourth fastest times ever for the distance but, at 35, he will realise that Paris could be his last opportunity of an appearance on a global championship stage.
He may also be concerned that his preparation for London has not been without hiccups. He has only raced once this year and that was when he pulled out of the Lisbon half-marathon around the eight mile mark on 17 March - no luck of the Irish that day.
In Scullion’s most recent vlog from the sunny Algarve, he reported getting a blister on his last long run over a tough 20 mile route while, on his final speed workout, he was not pleased with 4 x 3000m session (9:28,9:21,9:09,8:49) he ran on the Victoria Hotel track.
There are two other prominent Irish athletes in the field on Sunday.
DSD’s Tonosa Hiko will be aiming to improve his 2:15:01 best from Valencia last December, while it will be Clonmel man Sean Tobin’s first serious crack at the marathon after running a gimmicky 26.2 miler in Antarctica a few years ago.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s Assefa has her eyes on not just winning her second consecutive marathon major after victory in Berlin last September, where she set the incredible new world mark of 2:11:53 and broke the course record.
In opposition are Kenyan duo of Brigid Kosgei, the former world record holder with her 2:14:04 in Chicago 2019, and Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir.
The men’s field is equally stacked, with Ethiopia’s double World Championships marathon silver medallist Mosinet Geremew in the field, but watch out for Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor, who finished second last year behind the late Kelvin Kiptum.
