What a way to celebrate your birthday.
Junior doctor Phil Sesemann turned 29 on Sunday and marked the occasion with a seventh-place finish in the London Marathon.
Sesemann, who had never run the distance before, was the first British male to finish, crossing the line just one place behind defending champion Shura Kitata of Ethiopia.
Previously a track specialist, the Yorkshireman tired in the closing stages but dug deep to finish in two hours, 12 minutes and 58 seconds.
His time means he qualifies for selection for next year’s European Championships and Commonwealth Games.
This year’s London Marathon was the first on the usual Blackheath-Pall Mall course in more than two years after the pandemic forced a postponement, re-routing and scaling down of last year’s event.
Sesemann has seen the crisis close up through his work at Leeds General Infirmary.
“It’s been difficult for my colleagues and I have tried to support them as much as I can,” he said.
“There have been challenges but more around Covid risk for myself. I have done all this training and been trying to avoid catching Covid beforehand. It wouldn’t be worth it.”
Sesemann’s most regular training partner is his dog, named Kipchoge after Kenyan marathon great Eliud Kipchoge.
“She’s on 80-plus miles a week. She will do 20-milers and stuff. She seems to love it – but she doesn’t get a choice,” he said.
“She doesn’t pace me. She usually lags behind, but she’s a stalwart on the Leeds training scene.”
