Former Hong Kong runner Jake Smith clocks Olympic marathon qualifying time despite only starting as a pacer for teammates
- The 23-year-old, who spent 16 years in Hong Kong, ran 2:11:00 at the Cheshire Elite Marathon, 30 seconds under the Olympic cut-off
- ‘Looked down at the watch at mile 17 and thought ‘let’s try run the Olympic time’’ said Smith, who was on teammate pacing duties
Former Hong Kong competitor Jake Smith proved his pedigree once again after clocking an Olympic and World Championship-qualifying time in his first ever marathon attempt – and he didn’t even intend to take part.
His time of two hours and 11 minutes not only earned him first place in the contest, but was also well under the Olympics marathon qualifying time of 2:11:30. Unfortunately for Smith, Great Britain had already selected its team for Tokyo 2020 this summer.
“Still in shock with what has just happened today!!!!” said Smith on Instagram. “Olympic marathon time, World Champs marathon time, 2:11:00 debut marathon.
“Started out on pacing duties helping some of the half marathon and marathon boys run some quick times. Looked down at the watch at like mile 17 and thought ‘sod it’ let’s try run the Olympic time. Thankfully it paid off ... I swear I’m doing a 1500m track season,” he added with a laughing emoji.