CALLUM HAWKINS RETURNS TO RACING AT THE VITALITY LONDON 10,000: Scottish marathoner to make first appearance since Commonwealth Games​

CALLUM HAWKINS RETURNS TO RACING AT THE VITALITY LONDON 10,000

• Scottish marathoner to make first appearance since Commonwealth Games​

Callum Hawkins will make his first return to racing since collapsing while leading the Commonwealth Games marathon at the Vitality London 10,000 on Monday 28 May.

The Scottish star will once again compete against Sir Mo Farah at the event which starts on The Mall and finishes in front of Buckingham Palace.

Hawkins, 25, was on course for victory at the Commonwealth Games marathon on the Gold Coast, Australia, last month when, overcome by the heat, he lost control of his body and fell over just two kilometres from the finish.

The Australian Michael Shelley came through to win the race and Hawkins was taken away to receive medical treatment.

The Kilbarchan AC athlete continues to recover and has returned to training in his home city of Glasgow ahead of his competitive return to action at the Vitality London 10,000 on Bank Holiday Monday.

Hawkins said: “I feel a lot better now I have had some rest since returning from Australia and I’m looking forward to getting out there and competing again.

“It has been a few years since I ran a 10k on British roads and it will be a good race to see where I am at in order to kick-start my summer. Hopefully it will be an entertaining race for all the fans who will come out to watch too.

Hawkins ran a stand-alone 10km personal best time of 29 minutes and three seconds in the Netherlands in February. Farah’s 10km personal best is a rapid 27:44 which he ran on the London 10,000 course in 2010 and he will be going for his sixth victory in this event. The four-time Olympic champion showed he remains in good shape following his third place at this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon by running 28:27 to win Great Manchester Run 10km last Sunday.

Chris Thompson has shown by his form this year that he still has the quality to make it more than just a two-man race.

Thompson was one of three British men to run inside 28 minutes at Saturday’s Night of the 10,000m PBs. The 37-year-old rolled back the years to run 27:52:56 – his fastest time over the distance since 2011.

Other British men confirmed for this year’s Vitality London 10000 are: Johnny Mellor (PB 28:50), John Beattie (PB 29:11), Josh Griffiths (PB 29:28), Matt Sharpe (PB 29.31) and Dan Studley (PB 29:40).

In the women’s race, last year’s Vitality London 10,000m champion Jo Pavey, 44, has been added to an exciting field which also includes Lily Partridge and Steph Twell.

Pavey, the 2014 European 10,000m champion, won last year’s race in 32:57. She has not run competitively this year but will be hoping to once again mix it with her younger rivals.

Partridge, who won the 2016 Vitality London 10000, finished in a superb eighth place overall in last month’s London Marathon, setting a new personal best time of 2 hours 29 minutes and 44 seconds.

Twell is coming off the back of a busy schedule at the Commonwealth Games where she competed in both the 1500m and 5000m, finishing seventh in the former and 14th in the latter.

Other names in the elite women’s field include: Sonia Samuels, Louise Small and Caryl Jones.