Mark Woods
Callum Hawkins plans to put himself in the frame for Olympic selection in today’s Frankfurt Marathon but his elder brother Derek insists the pair are capable of making it a family double in Rio next summer.
With Derek forced out of running in Germany due to foot injury, the spotlight falls on 23-year-old Callum to chase the qualifying mark of 2 hours and 14 minutes on his debut at the distance.
But with only Scott Overall currently securing the standard, Derek has forecast a scramble to book places on Team GB.
“All Scott needs to do is stay healthy and he should be OK now,” he said. “But there’s quite a few of us who are going to be out to get the time as well. You’ve got Andy Lemoncello if he comes back OK. Chris Thompson’s fit now and running well so he could have a real go at it.
“Then there’s myself and Callum. I’d say for me, getting to Rio is what I’m really aiming at. Getting there is probably even more important than doing well at the Olympics themselves.”
The younger Hawkins, fresh from coming second at this month’s Great Scottish Run, has taken advice from former world record holder Steve Jones and he has been urged not to let the occasion go to his head.
“I’m confident Callum will run quick but he’ll have to stick to his plan at the start,” Derek said. “A lot of folk go off too quickly or try and keep up with someone. He has to go with his own plan and keep with it because the last thing you want to do is chop and change as you go along.”
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