Alex Yee‘s London Marathon preparations are ramping up – and his recent training partners have included his 93-year-old Grandad!
The reigning Olympic and World triathlon champion is fulfilling a lifelong dream by lining up in the world’s biggest marathon, in what’s his home city.
It is the first year in the next Olympic cycle and while Yee is still swimming and cycling, the main focus so far in 2025 has been on his running.
He’s set a target time of 2:07 to 2:10, which would put him right up there with the fastest British men over the 26.2-mile distance.
READ MORE: What is a good marathon time?
Learning all the time
And anyone who follows him on Strava or Instagram will have noticed things are getting serious now as the countdown to April 27th continues.
But there was still time recently for him to join his amazing Grandad at their local parkrun, with the BBC’s Breakfast Show putting together a lovely feature which also illustrates just how Yee’s running venture has captured the public imagination.
The 27-year-old teed it up on Instagram by saying: “Marathon block week 5. Plenty of training partners this week, from my 93 year old Grandad to a 2:09 Marathon runner. 150km covered, ending with an important recon of the London course!
“I’m learning so much from everyone around me and, win, lose or draw I feel like I’m getting closer to feeling worthy to stand on that London marathon startline. Hope everyone’s prep is going well!”
‘Superstar grandson’
And it was clear on the BBC film, which is embedded below, just what an inspiration his Grandad Albert is, with Alex saying: “He’s been a role model for us and our family and we just try and follow in his footsteps as best as we can.
“If I can be as mobile and doing the stuff he’s doing at 93 I’ll be extremely proud of myself.
“It’s incredible to hear the amount of people cheering him on.”
And when Albert is asked how proud he is of Alex, he answers: “Oh, unimaginable. I always tell people he’s my superstar grandson!”
How to pace a triathlon to leave it all out there WITHOUT blowing up
