Stephen initially achieved the qualification standard when he finished fifth in the Houston Marathon, before sealing his position when he knocked two minutes off his PB with 2:09:49 at last year’s London Marathon, just 34 seconds shy of Olympic Silver Medallist John Treacy’s Irish record of 2:09.15 set in Boston in 1988. He usually trains between Flagstaff, Arizona and London but largely trained in Belfast this year due to lockdowns.