CALLUM HAWKINS will be a relative whippersnapper, at the age of 23, when he makes his debut over in the marathon in Frankfurt tomorrow. Several months in the preparation, it cannot come a moment too soon.
“I’m not going up too quickly,” insists the Great Britain internationalist, whose elder brother Derek was forced out by injury. “Some people go up and never do anything else. But I think it will help me on the track.”
The German odyssey, however, is no token trial. Hawkins will immediately target the Rio 2016 qualifying standard of two hours and 14 minutes laid down by UK Athletics. “When it came out, it sort of nudged me,” he confirms. “I felt I had a good chance of going for it. And I thought if I got it done in the autumn, I could go for the 10000 metres in the spring.”
His occasional coach Steve Jones, and Paula Radcliffe, record holders past and present, both believe the Kilbarchan prospect is ready to make the leap. “It would be unbelievable to go to an Olympic Games,” Hawkins adds.
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