TO PREPARE his body for the demands of running a marathon in the heat and humidity of Tokyo at next week’s World Championships, Bradford’s Emile Cairess has been running himself hot baths in Leeds.

The 27-year-old, who was an impressive fourth-place finisher in last year’s Olympic marathon in Paris, has had to factor in heat conditioning for his preparations for his biggest race of the year next Monday.

The mercury is forecast to hit 35 degrees for a race that begins at 8am (12am UK time) with humidity up around 66 per cent. Cairess – who pulled out of this year’s London Marathon because he was not at a competitive pace after missing two months of training over the winter – has never raced in conditions as hot.

So to prepare himself for the heat, he has been utilising the facilities at the Talent Hub at Leeds Beckett University.

Emile Cairess of Great Britain celebrates on the podium after winning a bronze medal in the 2024 TCS London Marathon (Picture: Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

placeholder image — Emile Cairess of Great Britain celebrates on the podium after winning a bronze medal in the 2024 TCS London Marathon (Picture: Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

“I did my first one last week,” explained Cairess. “The bath is set to 40 degrees and you stay in it for 45 minutes, the physiologist keeps checking your temperature every five minutes.

“You start submerged with just your head out, and if it gets too high just take an arm out.

“I’ll do those baths four times before Tokyo.”

Standard baths are typically around 37 degrees, and for a trainer as meticulous as Cairess, it is taking some getting used to.

World championship hopeful Emile Cairess of Bradford and Great Britain (Picture: Paul Harding/Getty Images)

“It’s not the most enjoyable, it’s okay for about five minutes,” said the Yorkshireman. “But it’s necessary. I’ve not raced in conditions like Tokyo before. I can’t guarantee I’m going to cope well with them, but if I feel like I’m preparing the best I can for the heat then I’m giving myself the best chance.”

It has not been the smoothest of post-Olympic years for Cairess, following his breakout performance in finishing just outside the medals in Paris.

He has not run a marathon since then and opted out of running in London in April because he missed January and February’s block of training due to an ankle injury.

Cairess returned to competition to win the UK 10,000m championship at Birmingham in June.

He feels his training has gone well and that he benefitted from a six-week warm weather training block out of the country. But he did miss a few sessions from an innocuous injury he picked up back home in Yorkshire.

“I was stung on my elbow when I was in York,” he said. “It got infected, it swelled up and I had to take antibiotics. I think I was just unlucky with that.

“But otherwise I’m in good shape. I feel like the London injury was a long time ago.”

Despite underlining his growing status in Paris, he is keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to making predictions about next week’s world championships.

“I have in my head what I’ll be happy with,” he said. “I’ll just try and do my best and see where that puts me. I’ll know after the race if it’s gone well or not.

“People might judge a finish differently to how I judge it myself.”

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