‘I feel like a slight fraud,’ says runner carried over finishing line
THE runner who was carried across the London Marathon finish line has joked that he feels like a “fraud” and that he should give a piece of his medal to the Good Samaritan who helped him.
In a celebrated show of sportsmanship, David Wyeth, 35, was helped to the race finish line on Sunday by fellow competitor Welshman Matthew Rees, 29, who placed the flagging runner’s arms around him as he staggered through the last mile.
After the pair joked that Mr Wyeth completed the race one minute faster than Swansea Harrier Mr Rees, the 35-year-old admitted he “didn’t know where I would be” without the younger man’s help.
The project manager said: “The time means absolutely nothing to me – I feel a slight fraud for having a medal around my neck. I should cut a little piece out because it belongs to Matthew.
“I really wouldn’t have got across the line – on my hands and knees, maybe, but the time meant nothing in the end because I know I wouldn’t have got there without Matthew putting his arm around me and carrying me over the line.”
Mr Wyeth, from Manchester, also said he felt “selfish” for putting himself at risk with his two young children, aged six and four, watching.
Reunited less than 24 hours after the race at a press conference at a hotel in Tower Hill, east London, Mr Wyeth was almost in tears as he recalled the painful moment.
He said: “I knew where [my family] were positioned for the last viewing point, and that was around Westminster.
“I think I was in a state of distress at that point around Westminster and they knew something was wrong and that I was injured, or worse.
“I will reflect on the day but my concern was the risk I put myself in with two young children, that I’m doing something for fun and it’s my recreation and I just felt so selfish that I was there in a bad way.
“It’s with massive, massive thanks to the London Marathon team – so many volunteers, so many kind faces, so many kind words.
“I don’t know where I’d be without that.”
One of the most heart-warming stories to come out of this year’s marathon, the footage of Mr Rees helping struggling competitor Mr Wyeth over the marathon finish line has gone viral less than 24 hours later.
Both runners managed to complete the race in less than three hours.
As he spoke of the selfless moment, Mr Rees, an HSBC bank worker from Uplands, said he feared he himself might not finish the race after battling issues with his calf muscles.
He said: “My moment with David was caught on camera, but I was helped along the course. I stopped a number of times to stretch out my calf.
“Other runners said, ‘I’ll slow down and go with you’ and I told them to go on.
“The last couple of miles the calf was really hurting me but the thought that the finish line is close drives you on that little bit further.
“My troubles started around mile nine, and I thought ‘that’s a long way to go’.”
“I was literally just about to get into my stride for the sprint finish I’ve always got a little bit of a sprint finish left in me, then I saw David.
“The point I saw him, he was clearly struggling and his legs just went from underneath him and he fell to the ground.
“I went over and he said ‘I’ve got to finish’ and I said ‘you will’ and I helped him up.”
Mr Rees said Mr Wyeth encouraged him to go on, but he insisted on helping the 35-year-old, who was running in memory of his uncle, to the finish line.
“It was clear he wouldn’t be able to do this alone, so I thought ‘stick with him’ to make sure he did reach that finish line.”
Despite the hurdle, Mr Wyeth, from Manchester, said everything was “meticulously planned” and he was well prepared, but thought that dehydration could be the cause.
“I trained the miles, had a goal in mind and was comfortable for a large part of the race – I was on for my goal of sub-2 (hours) 40.
“My legs crumbled in front of Buckingham Palace pretty much as we were turning the corner and the end was in sight. But it’s still a long way down the Mall to get to, maybe that was a realisation and the legs just gave and the body shut down”.
Colin Davies, chairman of Swansea Harriers Athletics Club, who Mr Rees runs for, said: “Distance runners train as a group and have a group mentality, they look out for each other.
“When you’re running 100 metres it’s ‘head down and go’, when you’re running distances of that sort then working together as a group is very important and they feed off each other.”