Cathal Dennehy: Meet the Mongolian marathon runner who just keeps showing up

Ser-Od Bat-Ochir has run at 12 straight World Athletics Championships and six straight Olympic Games. On Monday morning, he will be on the line at this year's championships in Toyko. 

Ser-Od Bat-Ochir is not a charity case who gets a spot at World Championships and Olympics because he comes from a weak athletics nation. He is world class in his own right. Pic: Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Keep showing up. It’s a phrase that’s often used in sport, capturing an absolute necessity for those who wish to rise to the top.

There are many who say it. But the number willing to practise it, day after day, year after year, decade after decade, is much smaller. Journey into that cluster of the ultra-committed, venture to its most extreme edge, and you’ll come across a man who embodies its very essence.