Hot to trot
Mo & marathon heroes beat 24C heat
HOTFOOT Sir Mo Farah after he set a new UK record
THE records just melted away at the London Marathon yesterday, and even those running only for fun were feeling the heat.
The spring heatwave pushed the mercury to 24C to make the gruelling event’s 38th outing the hottest yet, topping the 22.7C scorcher in 1996.
Dozens of runners collapsed with heat exhaustion but more than 40,000 soldiered on in the sweltering conditions after the Queen started the race remotely from Windsor Castle.
And an estimated 800,000 spectators gathered in the capital to cheer them on and salute Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, 33, as he notched his third victory in the men’s race with a time of 2:04:17.
Sir Mo Farah, who was one of many athletes hit by a glitch with the timing system, set a new British record but was hot under the collar at star-struck volunteers snapping selfies instead of handing him water. The Olympic champ, 35, clocked 2:06:21 and collapsed after coming in third. Vivian Cheruiyot, from Kenya, took the women’s title in 2:18.31. And Britain’s David Weir won the men’s wheelchair race in 1:31:15. Prince Harry was on hand to greet them at the finish line.
Celebs joining in included DJ Chris Evans, 52, who ran for Children in Need. Chef Gordon Ramsay’s twins Holly and Jack, 18, ran for Great Ormond Street Hospital, while Saturdays singer Rochelle Humes, 29, ran for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Rob Pope, 39, set a world record for the fastest time as a film character. He has run 15,400 miles in 19 months to re-create Forrest Gump’s epic trek in the 1994 Tom Hanks film. Rob, from Liverpool, said: “This was unbelievable. I had so many ‘Run, Forrest, run’ shouts – a couple of ‘Beardy man’ and a couple ‘Jesus’!”
Mirror staff really threw themselves into the story too. Leading our top team was reporter Alan Selby in 3:34:09, followed by Darren Wells in 3:40:10. Showbiz head Tom Bryant clocked 4:10:54, while features writer Laura Connor came in at 4:14:29. Assistant picture editor Charlie Kenward did it in 4:46:46 and magazine online content editor Danielle Stacey 5:20:55. And of 17 MPs hot-footing it around the course, Scottish Tory John Lamont was fastest in 3hrs, 38mins. The fastest Labour runner was junior health aide Alex Norris in 4hrs 25mins – comfortably ahead of his boss, Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth, on 4hrs, 42mins. Mr Ashworth said: “I’m going to have to have a stern word with him for upstaging me!” Meanwhile, the Met Office said the unseasonal heatwave will end today, with temperatures plunging to the mid-teens.