Craig Mottram fails in bid to qualify for marathon in Rio but fellow Victorian Liam Adams makes breakthrough

IT was the end of an era for Craig Mottram but the start of a new dawn for fellow Victorian marathoner Liam Adams.

Craig Mottram

IT was the end of an era for Craig Mottram but the start of a new dawn for fellow Victorian marathoner Liam Adams.

That was the tale of two marathons in different European cities on Sunday which resulted in 29-year-old Adams qualifying for the Rio Olympic Games.

Adams finished third in the Warsaw Marathon in Poland, clocking 2hr14min58sec which pushed him into second position on times for the three Olympic qualifying spots.

Liam Adams has secured a marathon place for the Rio Olympics.

Mottram had been aiming for one of them in his marathon debut in London on Sunday but the 35-year-old faded over the final stages of the race, finishing in 2:28.39sec.

“We were OK through halfway in 67 (minutes), but from then on it was tough,” Mottram said.

“I was slowing down every kilometre and then it became a matter of getting to the finish and trying to enjoy the last 10km with the crowds and things like that.

“It’s a long way. It’s a different feeling (to the 5000m event).

“If you’re having a tough day it goes for an hour and a half, not three minutes.

“It was a tough, long day for me. But I came to London to run a marathon and I finished it. It was a great experience.”

Mottram, a world championships bronze medallist over 5000m, quickly came to terms with the fact he’ll not be competing at an Olympics for the first time in 20 years.

“The Olympics was always going to be a bonus,” he said.

“My main motivation was just coming to run a marathon while I was still able to train and do one.

“If it went well then yes, (the Olympics) was a possibility, but as it didn’t the positive is still that I was able to do a marathon.

“And this will be my first and last - never again.”

Commonwealth champion Michael Shelley is the fastest qualifier for Rio having run 2:11.19sec with Adams now next followed by veteran Scott Westcott (2:15.30sec).

The unlucky runner out of the weekend’s events is Melbourne Marathon winner Brad Milosevic who had been holding onto third spot (2:16.00sec).

In the women’s race in London, Cassie Fien also failed to qualify for Rio despite finishing 17th in 2:33.36sec.

Australia’s three female representatives in Rio will be Lisa Weightman (2:27.35), Jess Trengove (2:27.45) and Milly Clark (2:29.07).

Originally published as Craig Mottram fails in bid to qualify for marathon in Rio but fellow Victorian Liam Adams makes breakthrough