There is a beautiful book about suffering on Alex Yee’s coffee table in his front room on the outskirts of Loughborough. It’s a massive book about cycling and riding up imposing mountains that look gorgeous in black-and-white photographs even as they bring down almost unbearable pain on those cyclists brave and crazy enough to confront them. Yee, the Olympic triathlon champion, is steeling himself for a new start as a novice long-distance runner who will enter similarly dark terrain in the London Marathon on Sunday.
“The nerves are definitely there but I’m excited too,” Yee says in his thoughtful yet exuberant way. “Honestly, it’s excitement about the unknown. As elite athletes we’re used to hurting ourselves and going through that pain. I’ve been in some dark places before and, in a weird way, I’m probably quite looking forward to experiencing this different kind of pain. I’m excited, rather than daunted.”
Yee is used to swimming 1.5km, riding his bike for 40km and then running the final 10km of a triathlon. There are enough photographs of his cherubic face etched in agony to believe his familiarity with suffering – so he thinks hard before selecting a definitive dark place from the past.
“Probably the primary one is the Olympics last year as it was the feeling of everything you’d worked towards slowly slipping away. At the same time you’re trying to keep your mind in the right place to focus on digging yourself out of that big hole.”
The Paris Olympic triathlon was almost done, and nearly as gone as his legs, as Yee faced the 14.5sec chasm that had opened between him and Hayden Wilde, his great rival and friend from New Zealand. We will soon return to that searing comeback that sealed Yee’s Olympic victory but, first, the vast challenge of his debut marathon dwarfs everything else.
Are the psychological demons of the marathon even harder to control than the gruelling physiological demands? “They definitely can be. But I’ve always tried to experience lots of the emotions and difficulties which could be thrown at me during race day as much in training. When I’m prepared for something, I feel mentally at peace and able to get the most out of my body. There are going to be things which I won’t have experienced before in this marathon and, psychologically, that’s tough. But it’s also going to be a really great learning curve for me and hopefully I’ll come out the other side saying: ‘Wow, I’ve experienced this and what does it mean for triathlon, potentially another marathon, whatever it may be?”
There will be so much attention on Yee, and expectation, that his rigorous preparation might be knocked off-kilter. “It’s definitely something I’ve thought about and the honest answer right now is I don’t know. I’m doing everything I can to mitigate those emotions, to try and control things. I went down to London a few weeks ago and stood on the start line. I tried to feel the emotions which I might experience and I honestly couldn’t, because it’s impossible to comprehend until the race starts.
“It means a lot more to me that it’s in London and that’s going to be another unknown. I’ve always framed the crowd as giving you that extra push when you need it most. Hopefully I’m going to use that energy come 20 miles when they say the real race begins.”
How much of the course did he complete? “I ran about 30km and got to see a lot of it, particularly the Isle of Dogs which I wasn’t too familiar with. Having run in London I’ve seen a lot of the other places. I’ve run the mini-marathons but, yes, that Canary Wharf area was a bit unknown. So it was great to familiarise myself so there are no surprises.”
The marathon, at 42km, is more than four times the distance Yee runs in the triathlon and he concedes that the famous old distance has played on his mind. “It was a distance I probably feared in my first few sessions. You’re doing 20km of marathon and thinking: ‘This is going to be quite tough.’ But I’ve started to embrace the excitement of being part of a magical race and running this magical distance. People always seem to come out the other side a better person or having learnt something about themselves.”
Yee admits that the marathon has, at least temporarily, taken over his life. “There are not many times where I’m not thinking about it. But that purpose is something I crave because to have that so quickly after an Olympics has been a Godsend. I struggled coming off 2021 [when he won silver in the triathlon at the Tokyo Games] but I’ve been able to sink my teeth into this and dream of that start line and finish line.”
What is the longest distance he has run? “Two weeks ago I ran 38km – so just 4km to go. I did 30km at my projected race pace to get an idea what it would be like. It was honest running and it made me realise how hard it is to prepare for a marathon.”
Honest as in painful? “Yes!” Yee exclaims with a laugh. “I had some tough conditions as it was really windy. But I did it by myself and that’s important because there are going to be some lonely moments in a marathon. To experience those moments by yourself allows you to dial into your mental process and stay present.”
How would it have felt to run another 4km at a fast pace? “I felt under control but there’s an element of the unknown and that’s one of the big reasons why I’m doing this race – to feel that excitement. It’s a massive stab in the dark for me to even have the audacity to try this. Win, lose or draw, I think there’ll be personal growth, hopefully physical growth too.”
Yee has a whole team behind him for London, including a key role for one of his long-term sponsors. “Keep an eye on what I’m wearing on my feet in the marathon as I’ve been working very closely with New Balance on a new shoe,” he says. “I’ve been involved a little with the development, and testing, and it makes me feel like I’m in the best shoe for the marathon.
“I’m coming up to my 10th year with New Balance and that’s really special. They were one of my first-ever sponsors and to have that authentic relationship, and for them to put their belief in me at such an early stage, made me realise this was something I could do properly and give a real good go.”
Some of the world’s great marathon runners will be in London on Sunday and Yee grins shyly. “I wouldn’t say I’ll be running with them, but I’m definitely excited to share a start line with Eliud Kipchoge. He is a massive inspiration and I’ve always admired his philosophical approach.”
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Kipchoge spoke earlier this year of his interest in Yee and even offered to mentor him. “We haven’t spent any time together yet as he is very serious with his preparations,” Yee says of Kipchoge. “But there’s potential after the marathon and I’d love to pick his brains, to learn from him. I regard him as the greatest of all time in marathon running and so it’s a bit bizarre to share a start-line with him. It’s the biggest honour I could have.
“Eliud’s approach has allowed him to master his mind. So many people work hard physiologically to get into the best possible shape – but they neglect the power of the mind. I try to bring that mental approach to the triathlon so I can stay calm and, in those testing situations, be present. I can flow through things and that’s allowed me to make some very critical decisions at very important times – like in the Olympics.”
Yee relives the greatest achievement of his career so far – when he came back from a desperate situation in Paris last summer to win gold. “With 3km to go I was about 15 seconds behind,” he says, his eyes widening as if, even now, he can’t believe the perilous situation. “To be able to stay present, and focused, and believe I could do it, was so important.
“With about a mile to go my coach Adam Elliot shouted for me to give it one more try. That really resonated as, before the race, he said I needed to pick a point and just go for it. So I picked a point as we’d come off Pont des Invalides and, initially, nothing happened. And then, over the next 100 metres, it felt like I’d gone from this insurmountable gap to being on [Wilde’s] shoulder and taking the lead. It was a really special moment I’ll never forget.”
Wilde was notably gracious in defeat; but he looked less impressed a few weeks later when Yee again beat him in Boston and, as he crossed the finish line, replicated the “cold celebration” of Kylian Mbappé and Cole Palmer. “Initially there was a little unhappiness about it,” Yee says of Wilde’s reaction, “but straightaway we had a conversation. It’s important to leave things on the field and come out as better mates. Hayden races with so much personality and panache and that’s something I admire about him and I’d like to do the same. Sharing our emotions and our passion is important for the sport.”
Yee is also passionate about his mixed ethnicity, which fuses a Chinese heritage on his father’s side with his mother’s English background, and the fact that he grew up in multicultural Lewisham in south-east London. “I was speaking to my parents about my Chinese influence and how that affected me. For the first 15 years after they came to the UK, my grandfather and father tried to fit in and be as western as possible. But as I got older and social norms changed they started to embrace their ethnicity, their background. I definitely noticed the influence of Chinese culture on myself, especially as the first-born and the responsibility bestowed on me.
“And then being part of such a diverse culture within Lewisham, and to go to school with so many different people, meant I never saw colour as a thing. People were just people and that’s an important message.”
His grandfather Albert is still doing Parkruns at 93 and he will be there to support Alex on Sunday. Yee says “he’s a massive inspiration. I’d love to still be running at that age. He’s got such zest for life and it shows the power of running.”
Yee pauses when I ask him what time, amid the inevitable pain, he might run in his first marathon. “The primary goal is to enjoy it, to cross that finish line with a smile on my face. It will definitely hurt along the way but I would love to go under two hours 10 minutes. If I have a really good day, then let’s see what else could happen.”