Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee confirmed as London Marathon pacemaker as star returns favour to fellow athlete
Yee will be tasked with pacing Emile Cairess, the leading British athlete in the field, at the 2026 TCS London Marathon on Sunday 26 April.
Reigning Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee has been confirmed as a pacemaker at this year’s London Marathon.
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Yee will be tasked with pacing Emile Cairess, the leading British athlete in the field, at the 2026 TCS London Marathon on Sunday 26 April.
He is returning the favour to Cairess, who paced him for 21 miles at last December’s Valencia Marathon and helped the triathlon star to finish in a time of 2:06:38 – the second fastest time ever by a British athlete.
“Emile is a great runner, and he was a massive help to me at last year’s Valencia Marathon, both during my training block beforehand and pacing on the day,” Yee said.
He added: “My hope is that I can repay him for that help by supporting him as much as I can at this year’s TCS London Marathon and play some part in helping him achieve his ambitions.”
Yee made his full TCS London Marathon debut in 2025 when he finished as the second British finisher and 14th overall in 2:11:08 in what is his home-town marathon.
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“It was an incredible experience to race the TCS London Marathon last year. As a Londoner, I thought I knew what to expect, but the crowds, the support and the atmosphere was more impressive than I ever imagined. Even though I won’t be doing the full 26.2 miles again this year, I’m looking forward to soaking up the experience again,” he said.
Other confirmed TCS London Marathon pacemakers this year include Alex Bell, the recent winner of the GetPRO Bath Half who has been named in the Great Britain team for the World Athletics Road Running Championships half marathon in Copenhagen in September.
Male pacemakers at the head of the field will include Oscar Kiplimo, the older brother of Jacob Kiplimo, who was a bronze medallist in the 5,000m at the 2022 World Championship, and Andrea Kiptoo who is a training partner of defending champion Sabastian Sawe.
It comes as the organisers of the London Marathon are reportedly considering staging next year’s race over two days.
Organisers have said they are exploring ways to allow more people to take part in the race, which has seen a massive increase in popularity over recent years.A record 1.1 million people applied to take part in the 2026 race, a 36% year-on-year increase.A two-day event would allow at least 100,000 people to take part.
A London Marathon Events spokesperson said: "The London Marathon is the world's most popular marathon, and we are continually exploring innovative ways to enable more people to take part, while delivering positive benefits for London."Together with our partners and stakeholders, we are looking at the intention for the 2027 London Marathon to take place across two days."Our immediate focus is on delivering an incredible 2026 London Marathon on Sunday, 26 April and ensuring every participant has an amazing experience."