Purdue and Sesemann top Brits at London Marathon

Charlotte Purdue and Philip Sesemann were the top British finishers at the Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday.

Purdue and Sesemann top Brits at London Marathon

Charlotte Purdue and Philip Sesemann were the top British finishers at the London Marathon on Sunday..

Charlotte Purdue (handicap -3.3) moved to third on the UK all-time list with her time of 2:23.26 in the women’s race as she paced her run superbly to come home in tenth position overall. She now sits behind only Paula Radcliffe and Mara Yamauchi in the rankings.

Eilish McColgan (handicap -4.0) acted as a pacemaker for the British athlete for a long spell of the race, going through on scheduled pace at halfway (1:11.44), and Purdue worked reentlessly over the last few miles toimprove by over two minutes. Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei won the race in 2:17.43.

Behind Purdue there were several promising performances particularly from Rose Harvey (handicap -1.4) and Samantha Harrison (handicap -2.1) with 2:29:45 and 2:32:22 clockings.  21 year old,  Becky Briggs (handicap -0.8) ran an eye-catching 2:34:34 too.

In the elite men’s race, on his marathon debut, Phil Sesemann (handicap -6.3) was the highest-placed British finisher as he crossed the line in 2:12.58. The Leeds-based junior doctor ran superbly with the pacemaker, Jake Smith (handicap -7.0), for 20 miles and held on to be the best British athlete to finish on the Mall.

Joshua Griffiths (handicap -6.1) who caused a shock in 2017 when he was the first British finisher to qualify for that year’s World Championships, was next across the line in 2:13.39 for eighth place, while Matt Leach (handicap -6.1) and Andy Davies (handicap -5.4) wrapped up the top-ten of the men’s race in times of 2:15.31 and 2:15.36 respectively.