Several talented and promising athletes have emerged from St Malachy’s in Belfast but Seaward is the first to make it all the way to the Olympics, the now 30-year-old posting the fastest qualifying time of those chasing selection with his 2:14:52 in Berlin last September. It was just reward for this quiet but determined athlete who had been chipping away on his best in recent years. A schoolteacher based near Leicester, he’s coached by Andy Hobdell, as is fellow marathon qualifier Paul Pollock. Preparations have gone well and a place among the top Europeans is a realistic target.