British runner overcomes illness to place 30th in a race won by Amane Beriso from fellow Ethiopian and defending champ Gotytom Gebreslase

Natasha Cockrams final preparations for the World Championships marathon were hit by illness at the GB holding camp in Slovakia, but she battled home in the intense heat of Budapest on Saturday morning (August 26) to finish a fine 30^th in 2:35:34.

With Amane Beriso and Gotytom Gebreslase sealing an Ethiopian one-two at the front of the field in 2:24:23 and 2:24:34 respectively, Cockram ran a lonely race for much of the 26.2 miles in mid-race temperatures which nudged 30 degrees centigrade as Britains solitary competitor in the marathons at these championships.

Yet after her illness-hit build-up she was satisfied with her result.

I had a bit of a rocky time in holding camp where I picked up a cough and a cold, she explained, but the medical team did such a great job to get me back on to the start line in one piece so a big shout out to them.

She added: Its getting better each day. I travelled into Budapest quite late compared to the rest of the team just to stay in the holding camp a bit longer.

The race started and finished in the majestic Heroes Square about 6km from the National Athletics Centre where the track and field action has unfolded all week.

At halfway Keira DAmato of the United States was at the forefront of a sizeable leading pack in 74:29, with Cockram passing 13.1 miles in 75:56. It wasnt too bad for the first 10-12 miles, said the Brit, but then it really ramped up just as the pace was picking up, so there was a double whammy with the heat and pace.

Soon afterwards Lonah Salpeter of Israel, the bronze medallist 12 months ago, pushed the pace for a spell as the lead group began to whittle down in size. A four-strong Ethiopian contingent was poised ominously, though, ready to strike. These included Amane Beriso, Gotytom Gebreslase, Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Tsehay Gemechu.

Beriso was running with Shankule on her singlet, which is the second part of her surname, although she is widely known as Beriso and made a name for herself last December when she won the Valencia Marathon in 2:14:58, the third quickest time in history, before then finishing runner-up to Hellen Obiri at the Boston Marathon in the spring.

Gebreslase, meanwhile, was defending the marathon title she won in much cooler conditions in Eugene last year. Yehualaw won the London Marathon in 2022, while Gemechu holds a PB of 2:16:56.

Like Beriso, Cockram also ran in Valencia nine months ago where she qualified for Budapest with a 2:26:14 run. Since then she has raced lightly but clearly arrived in Hungary in good shape despite her illness. I think I picked a few off in the last half, which is always the aim, she said.

Cockram, 30, was a teenage talent who won multiple Welsh titles and the British under-17 indoor 1500m title before going off the boil for a spell until eventually finding her niche in the marathon.

From 2012-15 she studied at Tulsa University in Oklahoma but emerged with a knee injury that was so bad that medics advised her to reconsider her career choice because running at elite level was out of the question. Surgery fixed the problem, though, and after a few years of only semi-serious running she got back into training properly in 2017 and has continued improving since.

Originally from Cwmbran, shes lived in Norfolk in recent years and part-time work alongside her marathon training has included co-ordinating medicine shortage during the pandemic and being a researcher for the police in addition to being supported in recent years by ASICS.

As for support on the course in Budapest, she added: My partner is out on the course and I saw him a few times, but the British and Welsh support generally was amazing.

I had a rocky time in holding camp where I picked up a cough and a cold but the medical team did a great job to get me on to the start line.@cockram_natasha after battling to 30th place in the World Champs marathon in 2:35:34 in the heat of #Budapest2023

@Jason_AW pic.twitter.com/kIkhEQgllI

AW (@AthleticsWeekly) August 26, 2023

How did she handle the conditions? It was hot but I felt I prepared pretty well despite being in the UK for training. The physiologists were helping me and I ran 20 miles at the peak of the heat when we had that heatwave and then I jumped in a hot tub after for half an hour. It was pretty brutal but Im glad I did it as it paid off.

At home Cockram often trains with her dogs, too, and she smiled at the thought of them running in these conditions. I dont think theyd have coped! she smiled.

Up ahead on the road, the Ethiopians were managing the conditions better than anyone and at one point all four broke away. Gemechu dropped out at around 33km, but even then there were three Ethiopians away and clear and looking likely to sweep the medals.

At around 36km Beriso made her winning move, surging decisively away from her team-mates en route to a sub-70min second half of the race. Within a kilometre or two she had created a 25-second lead over Gebreslase with Yehualaw struggling to hold on to third place.

Indeed, shortly after the 40km mark Fatima Ezzahra Gardadi of Morocco a 31-year-old with a PB of 2:25:03 passed the fading Yehualaw and moved into third.

Entering Heroes Square for the last time, Beriso cruised through a finish line tape held partly by World Athletics president Seb Coe with 11 seconds to spare over Gebreslase, who was closing in the final kilometre.

Gardadi held on to earn a surprise bronze medal in 2:25:17 with Salpeter fourth in 2:25:38, Yehualaw winding up fifth in 2:26:13 and Rosemary Wanjiru of Kenya sixth in 2:26:42.

The first non African-born runner home was Lindsay Flanagan of the United States in ninth in 2:27:47, as team-mate and early leader DAmato placed 17^th in 2:31:35, with Melat Yisak Kejeta of Germany the top European in 11^th in 2:29:04.

A total of 65 runners finished with 12 DNFs compared to the 28 who dropped out during the torrid world midnight marathon for women in the heat and humidity of Doha in 2019.

We knew if we worked together we could get a better result, and we worked well as a team today, said Beriso. We got the lead group down to six and then we pushed away with four of us. That was our plan because there was such a strong field.

After we got rid of the rest, then it was a battle with my tough teammates. Gebreslase is a strong athlete and she wanted to defend her title. But all our team are strong.

We wanted to win all three medals, of course, but that didnt go to plan in the end. We took gold and silver and we are happy with that. We expected the conditions to be tough and we prepared well for it. I know it is very hot but for me it was not so difficult. I wish we had started a bit earlier so we could have run a faster time.