A Busy Week in Running: Beaugrand and Yee Hit the Road, World Record Under Attack and Wicked Marathon News
The running world has seen a lot of big stories in recent days. Olympic triathlon gold medallists Cassandre Beaugrand of France and Great Britain’s Alex Yee made headlines with some extracurricular fun outside of multi-sport racing, a world record came oh-so close to falling, and Wicked star Cynthia Erivo announced a lofty goal for this month’s London Marathon. We’ve got all that and more with a look at one of the biggest weeks of running news so far in 2026.
Beaugrand Sets French Record
Racing the Urban Trail de Lille in France on Saturday, Beaugrand added yet another accolade to her already impressive resume, setting a new French 10K record. She ran 30:52 in Lille, smashing the previous national best by eight seconds and becoming the first Frenchwoman to run under 31 minutes in the event. The result also puts her in the top 20 of all time among European women.
This is not the first national record that Beaugrand has run. Last year, coming off of the incredible 2024 season that saw her win Olympic gold and the WTCS world title, Beaugrand carried on her winning ways, breaking the French 5K record in February. Her time of 14:53 still stands more than a year later, making her a dual national record holder in a sport that is just one-third of her primary focus.
Gressier’s World Record Attempt
Beaugrand’s compatriot Jimmy Gressier also raced the Urban Trail de Lille on Saturday. Unlike Beaugrand, Gressier (the 2025 10,000m world champion) opted for the shorter option on the day, racing the 5K. The race was billed as an official world record attempt for the Frenchman as he aimed to beat the fastest 5K in history: Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi’s 12:49 best from 2021.
Gressier had a stellar performance in Lille, coming extremely close to the world record. All alone in first place, he charged down the finishing straight to the line, breaking the tape just two seconds shy of Aregawi’s mark. It was a valiant effort and, although Gressier missed the world record, his new PB of 12:51 shattered the European best by 14 seconds, and it puts him in a tie with Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei (the 5,000m and 10,000m world record holder) for the third-fastest 5K of all time.
Yee’s Back in London
Last April, Yee made his marathon debut with a 2:11:08 showing in London. At the end of 2025, racing in Valencia, he ran the second-fastest marathon in British history (behind only distance-running legend Mo Farah), posting an amazing time of 2:06:38. This was all in a quick year away from triathlon, and although Yee is ready to return to the WTCS this season, he has announced that he won’t be leaving the marathon completely behind just yet.
In a press release from the London Marathon, organizers listed Yee as a pacer for this year’s race. Yee will be pacing the second elite group in London, and he will be present specifically to lead his fellow Brit, Emile Cairess.
Cairess paced Yee in Valencia last year, helping the triathlete fly by him in the record books. (Up until Yee’s 2:06 performance, Cairess was the second-fastest Brit in history with a PB of 2:06:46. He is now third behind Farah and Yee). Cairess finished fourth at the 2024 Olympic marathon in Paris, and he will be looking for another big performance in London on April 26.
“Emile is a great runner, and he was a massive help to me at last year’s Valencia Marathon, both during my training block beforehand and pacing on the day,” Yee said in the London Marathon press release. “My hope is that I can repay him for that help by supporting him as much as I can [this year] and play some part in helping him achieve his ambitions.”
Yee was slated to race in Abu Dhabi in late March at the kick-off of the 2026 World Triathlon Championship Series, but the event was postponed due to the war in Iran. His WTCS season opener will have to wait a bit longer with the announcement of his pacing duties, as WTCS Samarkand in Uzbekistan is the same weekend as the London Marathon. The next WTCS event on the calendar after London is in Yokohama on May 16.
Cynthia Erivo Eyes London
Many celebrities have dipped their toes into the world of running, but for most, it’s just a quick detour into endurance sports before they return to their singing, acting or whatever else they do for a day job. For Erivo, once wasn’t enough.
In 2016, the Wicked star ran the New York City Marathon in 3:57:07. In 2022, she ran her hometown race, the London Marathon, beating her personal best by more than 20 minutes and crossing the line in 3:35:36. Now, as she recently told Runner’s World, she is planning a return to the London Marathon with a big goal: 3:15.
This will be a huge PB if she can pull it off, and it would be among the fastest marathon times ever run by a celebrity — man or woman. To make the attempt even more impressive, Erivo is juggling training while performing a one-woman show of Dracula in London’s West End — a production in which she plays 23 different roles. The play runs through May, so Erivo will have very little recovery time after her marathon on April 26, as she is set to return to the stage the following day.
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