Jake Wightman

COMMONWEALTH 1500m CONTENDER RECALLS HIS MINI LONDON MARATHONS IN 2008-09

- Ryan Goad

THE Virgin Money Giving Mini London Marathon is one of the most prestigious youth events in the country and has seen some of the cream of British runners come through the system and then go on to make their mark on the world stage.

This year is the 10th year the Mini Marathon has been the British Championships for under-13, under-15 and under-17 athletes and held over the three-mile distance.

In recent weeks in the run-up to the 2018 Virgin Money London Marathon we have looked at some of the athletes from across the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland who have come through the ranks of the Mini Marathon to make it on the global stage and here, in our final feature in the series, we focus on Jake Wightman.

JAKE WIGHTMAN, SCOTLAND

2008 – 45th under-15 boys’ race 2

009 – 21st under-15 boys’ race

JAKE WIGHTMAN is one of the most talked about athletes in Scotland this week as he bids for middle-distance success at the Commonwealth Games, but he hasn’t always been the one grabbing headlines, as his Virgin Money Giving Mini London Marathon career proves.

Of the six athletes we have spoken to in this series, four are in the middle-distance fields at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. And of those four, Wightman is the only one who does not have a top 10 Mini Marathon result on his CV. Laura Weightman and Chris O’Hare both had fifth-placed finishes in the Mini London Marathon, while Ciara Mageean (featured in last week’s AW) won the event in 2009.