Hawkins: I've loved being back "in the wars", now I want a fast time

Not an injured runner, or a rehabbing runner, or an unfit runner; just a runner.

It sounds basic but for Hawkins, who’s endured quite horrendous injury challenges in recent years, 2024 has been a revelation for him.

He’s back to being someone who can put on their trainers and just run, without the need to worry about if he’s pushing too hard or can feel a niggle or doing more than his body can cope with.

And having the luxury of being able to run without a care in the world is something he’s never appreciated more.

“The main reason I do this sport is that I just love to run. You can get into a flow and feel relaxed and really enjoying running and that’s what I love,” the 32-year-old says.

“To be back feeling like that has been so great. 

“It’s been good hitting the times I used to in training and being able to feel comfortable at those paces rather than not feeling strong when I go hard. 

“I’ve been feeling much more like my old self again where I’ve been able to just run and not think too much.”

Hawkins’ “old self” is one of Scotland’s greatest-ever distance runners.

His stand-out results were fourth-place finishes in the marathon at both the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, during which period he also set Scottish records over 10km, 10 miles, half marathon and marathon.

But an ankle injury, which began in 2019 and caused his mid-race withdrawal during the Tokyo Olympic marathon in 2021, turned out to be far longer-lasting than anyone could have foreseen.

For almost four years, Hawkins battled to regain his fitness. 

Finally, in 2024, he’s found it.

In March of this year, Hawkins ran the London Marathon, which was the first time since the Tokyo Olympics he’d been on the start line of a marathon and, much more pertinently, the first time he’d crossed the finish line of a marathon for almost five years.

His finishing time in London of 2 hours 17 minutes 34 seconds may have been nearly ten minutes off his best but the milestone of completing a marathon after such a long spell was, admits Hawkins, hugely significant both physically and, even more importantly, mentally.

“London wasn’t the best but I knew it was a big roll of the dice doing it and really, it was more about being on the start line and actually finishing than my time.

“I felt great through halfway so I decided to push on – but that was a mistake. 

“When the wheels started coming off, they came off pretty quickly. That happened around 15 miles but it was good to tough it out and get the monkey of not finishing a marathon for quite a while off my back.

“And I enjoyed being back in what I call the wars. 

“It showed I could still suffer.

“Sometimes, when you’ve not suffered for a while, it can be tough to get back into that mentality so to be able to dig deep again was encouraging. 

“I pushed myself to the limit so it showed I can still do that.”

Callum Hawkins has rediscovered his fitness in 2024 (Image: Getty Images)Suffering such prolonged injury issues has, unsurprisingly, caused Hawkins to tweak his training plan, and getting the balance between pushing as hard as is required to be one of the fastest marathon runners on the planet, yet not break his body hasn’t been easy.

But the balance, it seems, has been struck.

If completing London was the first box ticked in Hawkins’ comeback, the next is to seriously compete with the best again.

That will, he hopes, happen this weekend.

Victory at the Great Scottish Run Half Marathon last month, in comfortable style, suggests that Hawkins is within touching distance of his best and tomorrow the Kilbarchan man will be on the start line of the New York Marathon, harbouring quiet optimism he can be in contention. 

The line-up in New York is stellar; the current Olympic gold and silver medallists, Tamirat Tolafrom Ethiopia and Belgium’s Bashir Abdi are running, as are past NY Marathon winners, Geoffrey Kamworor, Albert Korir and Evans Chebet from Kenya. 

But the Scot is optimistic that, if all goes to plan, and that’s never certain over 26.2 miles, he could be towards the front of the pack.

“Finishing London means I can go into New York not having to worry about getting over the line.

I’m maybe not quite back to my very best but I’m happy with where I am - I had in mind what kind of shape I’d like to be in right now and I’ve gone beyond that,” he says.

“It’s a tough one to pitch in terms of expectations but I think the course will suit my strengths with it being a bit hillier.

“A top ten would be great but it’s a really stacked field so we’ll see. 

“New York is a brilliant city and it’s a special race so it’ll be great to experience that and I’m excited to see how I can do.”

Hawkins’ immediate focus may be New York but already he has one eye on 2025. 

With his wedding in the diary for early-May, his plan is to have a good time in the bag before he becomes a married man.

Having spent most of his career concentrating on the major championships, he admits he’s pondering the prospect of switching his focus to the big city marathons rather than target a place in GB’s team for next summer’s World Championships.

But, Hawkins admits, he’d never close the door completely on another major championships appearance.

“I’ve had to plan around my wedding but, if things keep going the way they are, I’d like to go for a quick marathon in the spring. Based on my trajectory in training, I’d like to think I could get close to my best early next year and go for a good time,” he says.

“And I’m at the point in my career where I’d maybe start to think about doing more of the big city races and look at fast times. 

“But if a GB vest came along, I probably won’t say no to it."