While Sebastian Sawe’s new men’s world record at the 2026 London Marathon has dominated global sports headlines, a lesser-known but landmark achievement from a Saint Lucian long-distance runner is drawing well-deserved celebration across the Caribbean nation.
Forty-three-year-old Yvette Adair, a native of Dennery, Saint Lucia, crossed the London Marathon finish line with an official time of 3 hours, 24 minutes and 23 seconds – slashing a staggering 24 minutes and 18 seconds off the previous national record of 3:48:41 set by Ava Fevrier at the 2025 London Marathon, and retaining the national record for her hometown of Dennery. This race marked Adair’s fifth career marathon and her first major 26.2-mile event since 2018, a comeback that delivered far faster results than any of her prior outings.
Adair first moved to the United Kingdom from Saint Lucia 26 years ago at age 18 to enlist in the British Army’s Royal Logistics Corps. She previously ran the London Marathon twice, in 2016 and 2018, while serving as a full-time active-duty soldier. Today, she serves as an army reserve and works full-time as a chef – a shift in career that opened up the extra time she needed to ramp up her training, she explained in an interview with the *St Lucia Times*.
“When I was on active duty full-time, my job was incredibly hectic, and I never had the space to prioritize running or push myself seriously,” Adair shared. “I didn’t truly fall in love with the sport until I transitioned to reserve status. Once I had more free time to train consistently, I realized how much I enjoyed it, and how strong I could be – so the army kept encouraging me to keep chasing bigger goals.”
Unlike her past marathons, which she ran purely for personal fulfillment, Adair noted this 2026 race carried extra weight as she competed officially representing the British Army. “There was a little more pressure this time around, but it was also really motivating,” she said.
Adair’s connection to running stretches back to her earliest school years in Saint Lucia, though she never stood out as a competitive runner during her secondary school education at Clendon Mason Memorial. Today, she resides in Bulford, UK, near the army base where she works, but returns to her home country every summer to take part in Carnival and tackle hikes on Saint Lucia’s iconic Pitons. An avid outdoor enthusiast, she also counts cross-country skiing, mountain climbing and cross-country running among her hobbies, and in 2025 completed the grueling Three Peaks Challenge, summiting Gros Piton, Petit Piton and Morne Gimie all in a single day. Still, long-distance running remains her core passion.
“When I’m out running, I enter my own little zone – it’s almost like moving meditation, and I just love every second of it,” Adair said. “I’ve been running since I was in infant school, it’s always been part of me, but I only truly embraced it after shifting to reserve status.”
Nearly 60,000 runners crossed the finish line at this year’s London Marathon. Adair placed 8,086th overall, 1,528th among all female competitors, and 228th in the competitive women’s 40-44 age division. Already, she is planning her next challenge: Adair intends to partner with a professional running coach to prepare for the 2027 London Marathon, with the goal of cutting her time even further.
For now, with encouragement from her sister, Adair said she is eager to build connections with the broader road running community in Saint Lucia, including record-holding runners like Six Star Marathon medallist Fevrier, Che Odlum-Vivenot, and Olympian Zepherinus Joseph.