Preston-born Olympian Patrick Dever secured a fourth place finish in his first ever marathon in New York.
The runner, who trains with Preston Harriers, set the tenth-fastest marathon time for a UK runner, clocking in at 2:08:58, just one second off a third place finish.
Patrick already has an accomplished record as an athlete, having represented Team GB at 5,000m in the Paris Olympics in 2024. Earlier that year, he set a personal best time of 27:08.81 in the 10,000m to go second in the all-time UK rankings.
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While competing for the University of Tulsa in 2021, he won the 10,000m at the 2021 NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track and Field Championships in a championship record. In the same year, he also became British 5,000m champion.
Speaking shortly after finishing his first marathon on Sunday, Patrick said he was “pretty stoked” with his performance.
Speaking to LetsRun.com, he said: “I think going into your first one, it’s almost good to be naive – you don’t really know what’s coming. My coaches Amy and Alastair, they had a lot of confidence in how I was training and how the build up was going […] and that gave me a lot of confidence.”
Patrick also hinted at the potential for competing at marathon distance in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles but said his immediate plan to head home for some rest before deciding his next steps.
On the change of discipline, he said: “Alistair’s been wanting me to do one for a long time but I was always like ‘track’s where it’s at, track’s where the sport’s at” but when you come out here and there’s crazy crowds and fifty-plus-thousand people running behind you I feel like this is probably the most fun part of the sport, even more fun than being in a stadium. I feel like over the next few years I’ll be definitely doing some more marathons.”
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