Royal trio show their support at London Marathon
RECORD FIELD: LARGEST TURNOUT FOR GRUELLING RACE
A TRIO of Royal cheerleaders, newly-weds and a recordbreaking wheelchair racer all featured in the London Marathon yesterday.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry stood at the side of the gruelling 26.2-mile course to salute the efforts of more than 40,000 runners – its highest ever turnout.
William, Kate and Harry – who got the race under way – said they hoped it would be the year of the “mental health marathon” after their campaign, Heads Together, was selected as the official charity. Harry last week revealed that he sought counselling after two years of “total chaos” while coming to terms with the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
Meanwhile, Jackie Scully and Duncan Sloan took to the starting line as soon as they had exchanged vows on the Cutty Sark ship in Greenwich, running in their wedding dress and tracksuit. The bride, 35, has spent the last few years battling with breast cancer but has now finished treatment.
She said: “I ran through chemo, volunteered and gave back to the two charities, Willow and Breast Cancer Care, which gave us back our smile and reminded me I didn’t have to be a cancer patient I could be a human being too. That was really important to me.”
She added: “I stood on that start line and I didn’t know if I would even make a mile because of the injuries I’ve been through. I’ve had my leg re-built 10 years ago, on top of breast cancer, so I’ve had quite a few hurdles to overcome.”
British wheelchair racer David Weir stormed to his seventh victory in the race – beating Tanni Grey-Thompson’s six triumphs. And Swansea athlete Matthew Rees, 29, sacrificed his own race time to shoulder the weight of stricken David Wyeth, carrying his rival across the finishing line.
I stood on that start line and I didn’t know if I would even make a mile. Jackie Scully, newly-wed and London Marathon runner