No Coach And No Pressure, But Now Josh Griffiths Is Off To World Championships

Josh Griffiths is aiming to make another unforeseen impact at the IAAF World Championships after stunning the athletics world at the London Marathon.

The Swansea Harrier began Sunday’s race alongside the fun runners, but then cruised past many of the elite starters to finish 13^th overall – and become the leading British runner – in his first effort at the distance.

It was an incredible achievement for Griffiths, 23, who is now preparing for the World Championships this summer.

The Ammanford athlete, who does not even have a coach, finished in a time of two hours, 14 minutes and 52 seconds.

Robbie Simpson was fastest of Britain’s established names, finishing in 2:15:04 ahead of Andrew Davies (2:15:11).

The race was won by Daniel Wanjiru of Kenya in 2:05:56.

“I’m still a bit in shock, I still can’t quite believe it,” said Griffiths, who warmed up for the race by winning a half marathon in Llanelli and his local Park Run.

“I never even considered making the World Championship team and right now everything is just a bit of a blur but it proves that hard work can pay off.

“We’ll have to plan and train for that. It wasn’t on my radar at all but it’s not something you can turn down and I can’t wait to get started. I don’t want to get too carried away when it comes to medal hopes.

“I love the challenge. I started doing it when I was about 13, 14 running with school. I joined a local club and every year I’ve progressed slightly.

“I started pretty steady because this was my first marathon but I felt stronger and stronger as the race went on. I still knew it would be a big ask but I thought ‘why not give it a go’ and the crowd really drove me on.

“I was in good shape, but given that was my first attempt at the full distance, it couldn’t have gone much better.

“It’s just hard to explain quite how I’m feeling, I’ve certainly got to re-think my plans for the next few months now. I got no special treatment, I took the Tube to the start like everyone else.”

“It was my first marathon today, I never even considered a British place, it was always just to qualify for Commonwealth Games for Wales.

“I thought with the Commonwealth Games next year I’d give the marathon a shot. I never considered the World Champs until I crossed the line.”