Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee made a sensational debut over 26.2 miles when he was 14th in the London Marathon earlier this year.
Taking part in his home event had been a lifetime ambition ever since he represented his borough in the Mini Marathon as a child.
And while Alex’s time of 2:11:08 was hugely impressive, speaking to him afterwards it was obvious he felt there was more to come.
So it wasn’t a big surprise when he announced on the latest Runna Podcast, which is embedded below, that he wants another crack at the distance – and that will come in Valencia on Sunday 7th December.
Flat and fast
Valencia is renowned as one of the fastest marathons in the world, with minimal elevation and it normally has favourable cooler weather given its slot in the calendar.
The unexpected heat in London in late April meant that Yee, in common with the majority of the elite field, slowed down fractionally in the closing stages.
And Valencia actually featured in Yee’s London build-up as he finished in the top 30 against the world’s best in a 10km race there in early January with a time of 28:07.
READ MORE: What is a good marathon time?
Alex looking for negative split
Since London Yee has taken in a couple of triathlon races – winning on his comeback at Supertri Toronto and then finishing ninth at WTCS French Riviera when he and Hayden Wilde – the man he beat to gold in Paris last summer – were on the wrong side of a bike split.
Yee had hinted another marathon could be on the agenda in the latter part of the year and that has now been confirmed.
Speaking on the Runna Podcast, Yee revealed not only will he race the Valencia Marathon but also the Valencia Half Marathon on Sunday 26th October – and his run mileage is already up to 135km a week.
He explained: “Finishing that first marathon left me kind of asking questions and also learning so much about it that I couldn’t not do another one. So I’m going to race Valencia Marathon at the end of this year, which is going to be really, really fun. And I’m also going to race the Valencia Half Marathon as well.”
Asked if he has a target time in mind, Yee replied: I went through halfway at London in 64:15 so I’d like to do something similar in Valencia but hopefully negative split. I feel like that would make the marathon a much more positive experience than doing a big positive split [in London].”
Triathlon still the big goal for LA 2028
But triathlon fans shouldn’t be worried that Yee is going to put all his focus on the marathon as he confirmed: “I think my big goal fundamentally is to stand on the [triathlon] start line in LA in 2028, feeling like I’m ready to kind of race the ultimate race that I want to race.
“Paris was an amazing day, really special, but I feel like I still left a little bit out there on the course that I could hopefully uncover. And that’s excited me, and that’s kind of led me to come in to the marathon and working on my run, something I haven’t been able to do for five years.”
But Yee did throw in the intriguing prospect of him racing the marathon at the World Athletics Championships in 2029, adding: “I would say that this Olympic cycle is all about triathlon. [But] I know that there’s potentially chance that the World Championships is going to come to London in 2029. That could be an amazing thing to be part of. But, who knows? That’s a long, long time away. And for me I’ve just got my eyes set on this next marathon coming up and hopefully just being the best athlete I can be there.”
Yee also underlined the positive reaction he’s had from the triathlon community, saying: “Everyone’s been really nice and receptive about it. I think it’s hopefully shown a little bit of respect for our sport that you have to really be at the top level of these sports to be competitive.”
Asked how training is going, he said: “It’s going okay. I’ve just come off doing a triathlon race in the French Riviera which was really fun and nice to be back doing that. But yeah now eyes are fully focused on the marathon and getting up to volume.
“It’s going to be around 135km this week so we’ll kind of keep pushing on and see where we can take it.”
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