After marathon statement, triathlon champ Alex Yee reveals potential future running targets

Alex Yee’s 2:06:38 at the Valencia Marathon late last year didn’t just catch the eye – it rewrote British distance-running history.

The second-fastest marathon time ever by a British man, delivered on only his second attempt at the distance and not much more than a year after he won Olympic triathlon gold in Paris.

Yet for Yee, the marathon year was never about headlines or hedging his future away from triathlon.

“The marathon project was much more of a passion project than a cash project,” he says when RUN247 caught up with him ahead of his return to swim, bike and run. “I actually made a significant loss compared to other years. It was about trying to be the best athlete I could be.”

Getting better all the time

That intent shaped the way his year unfolded. London was approached as an education – a chance to finally race an event he had grown up watching. Valencia was the opportunity to apply those lessons properly.

“London was about learning the distance,” he explains. “Valencia was about performing.”

What surprised even him was not just the time on the clock, but what it unlocked mentally.

“To feel like I’m still getting better – that was something I found really hard to believe after the Olympics. To surprise myself like that was huge.”

‘We stick to the plan’

Given the scale of the performance, questions were inevitable about whether such success should pull him further into marathon running. Yee, though, remains grounded and with a clear plan for the years ahead.

“Not really,” he says when asked if he feels pressure to step away from triathlon. “It’s always been about internalising what I want to do and being as authentic to myself as I can be.”

That authenticity now underpins a clear four-year plan with coach Adam Elliott.

“We’ve been very clear. Even if we’re ahead or below where we think we should be, we stick to the plan.”

This year will see Yee’s primary focus on the top-tier World Triathlon Championship Series races as the Olympic qualification window opens ahead of LA2028.

London 2029?

However he did tell us that there may still be scope for one or two running races to be mixed into the schedule.

And it also doesn’t mean the marathon door is closed. With a potential World Athletics Championships on the horizon on home roads in 2029 [London are seen as the favourites, with the decision coming later this year], Yee admits that holds plenty of appeal.

His triathlon journey was ignited by watching the Brownlee brothers make Olympic history in London in 2012 and the capital will always be somewhere very special for the Lewisham athlete.

“The World Athletics Champs in 2029 is a really exciting prospect,” he said. And for me the opportunity to race in London is something I don’t shy away from. It’s something I really want to do and really excited by. So I’m not ignoring the fact that that’s there and I don’t know if that will be possible or what will be happening.

“But I think for me the most natural fit will kind of happen. When I cross a finish line in the future, something will feel right. I don’t quite know where or what that is yet.”

For now, though, Valencia stands on its own – not as a novelty from an Olympic triathlon champion but as confirmation that whenever or wherever Alex Yee chooses to next race a marathon, he belongs in the conversation.”