ROBBIE Simpson’s low-key withdrawal from today’s marathon at the World Athletics Championship in London said much about the event and the nature of the athletes who engage in it.

Delighted when he secured his place in the British team alongside fellow Scot Callum Hawkins by finishing in the top two home challengers at this year’s London Marathon, the 25-year-old from Banchory subsequently suffered a calf injury and manfully advised the selectors of that early enough to allow another runner, veteran Andy Davies, time to prepare when he was called into the team.

A third Scot, Hawkins’ older brother Derek who showed similar courage in a different way when, on minimal training as a result of a serious back injury, he managed to become an Olympian in Rio and produced a creditable performance in breaking two-and-a-half hours, might have been considered but did not feel he was in the right sort of condition to take part this time around.

Elite marathon running and more particularly, training for it has been compared with high stakes poker in terms of the decisions athletes and coaches must make in terms of what work-load suit their particular physiques, when to increase that, when to taper, how much competition to engage in, on what terrain, over what distance and perhaps most difficult of all, just how often to race over the specialist distance.

In the weeks before major races many of them will meanwhile adopt a Howard Hughes approach to personal hygiene, endlessly washing and disinfecting hands in a bid to minimise the risk of picking up viruses.

Further evidence of how difficult all of that is to judge is provided by the entry sheet for today’s marathon. Less than a year after the Olympics in Rio only two of the eight men who finished ahead of the younger Hawkins brother, are listed, fifth-placed Tanzanian Alphonce Felix Simbu, who finished just 37 seconds ahead of him and Uganda’s Munyo Solomon Mutai, who was only 10 seconds ahead.

That the younger Hawkins has made it to the start line represents something of a victory in itself, then, the 25-year-old having reported only some niggles in the course of this season and nothing that has derailed his preparations.

It would, of course, be wrong to project too much on the basis of that information and leap to the conclusion that, Hawkins should now be considered a favourite for a medal even with home support which, if it is anything like that which turns out annually at the London Marathon, can only lift him to ever greater heights.

For all the same reasons there were high class performers missing from the marathon in Rio. Furthermore the absence of Olympic gold and silver medallists Eliud Kipchoge and Feyisa Lilesa as well as the current top two in the world rankings Wilson Kiprotich and Kenenisa Bekele, merely provides opportunities for high class compatriots, resulting in Bekele and Lilesa’s fellow Ethiopian Tamarit Tola, ranked third, emerging as the favourite, while Kichoge and Kiprotich’s Kenyan colleague Gideon Kipketer, who is fourth on that world list, is also in the line-up.

However, earning the right to prepare exactly as he and his father Robert, who is also his coach, have wanted for the World Championships is one of the bonus prizes for his performance in Rio last year that earned Hawkins pre-selection.

Nor was it just his placing in that event when he is so new to the distance – the Olympic marathon was only his third – that generated excitement, it was the way he ran. Cap turned back-to-front, the way this novice set out, disregarding mighty reputations as he led the world’s finest runners well into the race, almost redefined the word gallus and, for all that he tends to be pleasant but guarded in public, he has showed similar boldness since.

This year began with another inspirational performance at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country and while he was ultimately pipped for the win he had spread-eagled a high-class field, none other than Mo Farah among those who were broken by his performance.

There was, too, evidence of a mischievous sense of humour in early season when Hawkins put up a Twitter post showing his name at the top of the collected British running rankings, just ahead of Farah, with the message "Ssh no-one tell him".

His temperament might also have been tested when the Scottish half marathon record he had registered with yet another magnificent exhibition of front-running at the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow was scrubbed from the records when it turned out organisers had failed to measure the course properly. Undaunted he headed halfway round the world to set another in the Kagawa half marathon.

All the evidence suggests that temperamentally and physically Hawkins has what it takes to contend in major marathons, today and for many years to come. However, as with all his rivals, he will need luck to be on his side in this most unpredictable of championship athletics disciplines.