Callum Hawkins has not run a marathon since his legs turned to jelly and he collapsed with heatstroke and dehydration while leading the Commonwealth Games last year. Yet while images of him in distress on Sundale bridge in the Gold Coast went global, the 26-year-old insists he has since put the incident behind him – and is ready to run a big personal best in London.
“I don’t want to be known as the guy who fell over on the bridge,” said Hawkins, who was just over a mile from the finish when he crashed to the ground. “I don’t want to be the guy who looked as if he got pissed in Australia. I have seen the video a few times. I had a bit of banter. Most of it from Dad in hospital. He was quick with the jokes. He said: ‘You have ruined your brother’s running coaching business. You were only good for 40km!’ He can be quite brutal in that way.”
There were criticisms of the medical team for not being quicker to help, while others also suggested that the Australian Michael Shelley, who was two minutes down when Hawkins collapsed, should have stopped to check in rather than power to gold.
However, the Scot disagrees. “No, he was in bits as well,” he said. “What could he have done? I would probably have told him to fuck off if he had stopped. It would have been pointless. At the end of the day it’s racing. For all he knew, I went too hard, burst and just sat on the end of the road.”
And Hawkins, who also finished fourth in the 2017 world championships in London, is confident he will produce a performance that will qualify him for the worlds in Doha in September. His aim is to get through half way in 63min 30sec and finish in a time of two hours and seven minutes, three minutes quicker than his personal best and making him the second best British marathon runner in history behind Mo Farah.
“I reckon 2:07 is realistic,” he said. “I have been hitting those times in training. And temperature-wise, it’s going to be very good.”
Other British contenders – including Dewi Griffiths, who has run 2:09, as well as Jonny Mellor and Josh Griffiths – will be also be battling for world championships places. “Doha would get that monkey off my back that I can run in the heat,” added Hawkins. “And again, it’s another possibility to get a major medal.”