FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Welsh Hills breed tough stock as Dewi Griffiths impresses in
Frankfurt Marathon
After running the fastest marathon by a Briton in three years with 2:09:49
for fifth place in Frankfurt - and on his debut at the distance - Dewi
Griffiths laughs when asked if his running and lifestyle is a "throwback"
to the 1980s, an era when British men and Europeans in general had
considerably greater strength in depth internationally in the event.
The 26-year-old Welshman, who works with his parents on a sheep farm in
Carmarthenshire, reflects that hard, physical work and a solid volume of
training have done him no harm: "Back in the day, a lot of runners did
manual work and ran 100 to 120 miles per week on top of it. You could
probably say my lifestyle corresponds to it, I'm only running 100 miles per
week and got up to a maximum of 110 in the build-up for this. I like to
race a lot which the guys in the '80s did as well and I started doing more
of that this year."
The record for a UK marathon debutant remains with his fellow Welshman
Steve Jones, who won Chicago in 1984 with 2:08:05 and went on to break the
world record with 2:07:13. It's a measure of Griffiths' achievement in the
Mainova Frankfurt Marathon that up to 35 kilometres not only was Jones'
record under threat but Mo Farah's debut time of 2:08:20 in London in 2014,
which is the English rather than British record.
The omens were good for his marathon debut this year: a personal best of
61:33 in the Cardiff Half Marathon on October 1, capping a year when he had
set lifetime bests at 5 and 10,000m followed by 5 and 10k on the road.
"After the run in Cardiff, I thought I'd give it a go. I was running in the
second group in Frankfurt and they were going faster than planned but it
didn't faze me. I got to 30k and I was on 2:07 pace, got to 35k and was
still on for low 2:08 but then…", said Griffiths, adding that you never
really know how a marathon will feel till 35 kilometres.
The answer on the Festhalle's red carpet in Frankfurt was, pretty good,
since fifth place and the second fastest marathon by a European this year
confirmed his range of options for the coming year. Having graduated from
university four years ago, Griffiths has been supported by his parents but
does his full share of work on the sheep farm in Wales. He wanted to
explore his running potential.
"I told them, I want to give it a go. They supported me and, after going to
the 2014 Commonwealth Games, I don't get any questions any more, they know
I'm getting better and who knows where I can go? As for the farm work, it
can be physical, it can be long hours but I guess for the marathon, you've
got to be mentally tough and strong."
A stress fracture to the foot prevented Dewi Griffiths producing his best
at the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. He has possibly twin objectives
in 2018, firstly doing justice to himself in the Commonwealth Games on
Australia's Gold Coast, probably in the 10,000m. Then there might be a
return to Germany and the European Championships in Berlin in August. He is
certainly tempted by the prospect of the marathon there: "I'm not sure what
I'm going to do. Half of the reason for competing in Frankfurt was having
the option, whether I do the 10k or the marathon."
Let the final word be with the man whom Dewi Griffiths beat in Frankfurt on
Sunday: the German record holder Arne Gabius finished one place and ten
seconds behind the Welshman: "The Briton is strong. It's great for marathon
running in Europe - we have strong runners again."
Strength in depth across the nations for distance running can bring nothing
but good news for the sport and a sheep farmer among the hills of
Carmarthenshire is playing his part to the full.
More information is available at: www.frankfurt-marathon.com
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