London Marathon: Rising star Emile Cairess has Mo Farah in his sights

As a legend runs his last marathon, a rising star races his first. At the ripe old age of 40, Mo Farah will run 42.2 miles in London for the last time on Sunday.

But his 25-year-old British compatriot Emile Cairess is making his debut over the distance – and has the four-time Olympic champion in his sights.

Asked if he could beat Farah, Cairess said Mail sports: ‘Certainly. I don’t know what shape he’s in, but I’m a racer and I try to beat as many guys as I can. If Mo is one of them, then so be it.’

Cairess, who started under Farah’s old coach Alan Storey, has only ridden the Team GB hero once before.

That was in the European 10,000m Cup in 2021, when he finished just 2.55 seconds behind Farah, who was memorably beaten by another Briton, Marc Scott, the first time he had ever lost to a teammate in his favorite event.

His compatriot Emile Cairess, 25, runs his first – and hopes to beat the star veteran

The pair have only raced once before, over 10,000 metres, when he finished 2.55 seconds behind Farah

Cairess equaled Farah’s national road record in the 10k last year, while last month he broke the European 10-mile record set by Richard Nerukar, who attended the same school as him in Bradford.

And now stepping up in distance, Cairess admits Farah’s marathon milestones keep him busy. “He’s set good British records in the half and marathon, so those are definitely goals for the future,” he said. “If I could ever make it, it would be quite an achievement.”

To put the age difference between the duo into context, when Farah won the first of his six world titles in 2011, Cairess had just finished 74th in the English Schools Cross-Country Championships.

In 2012, Cairess finished 24th in the Mini London Marathon – a junior three-mile race the day before the main event – while Farah won double gold at the Olympics in the same city.

“I remember seeing him win the 10,000m in London 2012 at my friend’s house,” said Cairess. “It was a great memory and I remember being thrilled to see a British man at the top. He inspired many people to take up running.

“But when you’re younger, it’s not really recognizable. With the speed and level at which he ran, it feels like a different sport. I looked more at guys winning the West Yorkshire cross-country and thought ‘One day I wish I could win that’.

“It’s only now that I’m older and getting better that I can really appreciate how good Mo was. The speeds are crazy and unbelievable. He was fantastic.’

That’s why Cairess admits it will be a ‘massive honour’ to be on the same starting line as Farah at the London Marathon, and why he enjoyed sharing a podium with him at a pre-race media event on Thursday.

“A lot of people would pay to spend five minutes with him, so it’s great to be in his company,” he said. “When we took pictures at Buckingham Palace, there were at least 100 people lined up to watch him. You sort of realize the magnitude of what a big celebrity he is.’

This will be Farah’s fourth London Marathon and first in three years. His best result was third place in 2018, the same year he won the Chicago Marathon in a British record of 2 hours 05 minutes 11 seconds.

Farah and Cairess will not be battling for the top spots today in an elite men’s race featuring four of the five fastest marathoners in history: Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum and Ethiopians Kenenisa Bekele, Birhanu Legese and Mosinet Geremew.

The defending champion is Kenyan Amos Kipruto and he is trying to beat the course record of two hours, two minutes and 37 seconds. But for Cairess, today is just the beginning of what he hopes will be a long and successful marathon career. “I don’t want to build up too much pressure because it’s my first,” he added.

“I think I should definitely be under 2 hours and 10 minutes, but I could be a lot faster. I definitely think the marathon is my future. If everything goes well, I can try to be competitive at the Paris Olympics.’