Into the final stretch
Despite collapsing at the finish line, the only elite runner who also has a fulltime job was grittily resolved to notch up a personal best
Hayley Carruthers falls just yards from the finish line after running the race of her life at the London Marathon. The 26-year-old, who combines athletics with a job as an NHS radiographer, crawled the last few yards on her hands and knees. In the men’s race, Mo Farah’s week of woe ended with a fifth-place finish.
JUST watching it felt exhausting. Hayley Carruthers had just run the race of her life. But so much effort had gone into her own record setting achievement that she collapsed in a heap just yards from the finish.
A stretcher was needed after she finished the 26.2-mile course on her hands and knees. But such was her dedication that the NHS worker, the only British elite runner to juggle her athletic career with a full time job, vowed to return to work today after putting her name in the history books.
The 26-year-old has little time to recover from her efforts as she is also a research radiographer who works with cancer patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
She said: “I’m back to work – that’s the nature of job. Although I am proud of the way I got to the finish, I would rather I hadn’t put myself in that situation in the first place by pacing the first half a little more conservatively. The big thing is to learn from it.
“Ultimately though it was about racing the other girls today and our pack definitely went off too fast. I’m not badly injured at all, apart from my pride. I’m really touched that people have been so kind about it. It’s not a reaction I expected – it’s certainly not my goal to end up in that state at the finish.
“We train hard to cover the whole distance and that will be the goal for next time. I’ve just had a lovely meal with my family – they’ve looked after me as always and keep things in perspective.”
Many spectators were surprised to learn she started running just three years ago, after being inspired by a colers league who runs three miles after work.
She didn’t even have a pair of trainers, but a year later ran a marathon. Yesterday she finished in 2:34:03, three minutes off British Athletics qualifying standard for the world championships, and six-and-a-half minutes short of the official qualifying time for next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
TV pictures showed Carruthers carried away on a stretcher to receive treatment as commentator Steve Cram reassured viewers she would be OK.
“Well done, Hayley. Hayley has just run a personal best. She’s OK. She knows she has to get across the line,” he said. But viewers worried. Louise Brown tweeted: “Hope Hayley Carruthers is OK. Can someone confirm? I was in tears watching her collapse over the finish line. So hard to watch.”
Her injuries were revealed when she later shared photos of her bloodied and bandaged knees on Twitter. Carruthers works nine-hour days and trains at 5am and 5pm to fit in the miles.
“Sometimes it’s hard,” she said before the race. “I can’t have a nap in the afternoon which some days is tough. Once, on a Tuesday night, doping control knocked on my door at 10 o’clock and I was like, ‘I just want to go to bed.’”
After an eventful week, Mo Farah, the British Olympic champion, finished fifth in the men’s race in 02:05:39, behind Kenyan winner and marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, who crossed the line in 02:02:37.
Sir Mo, 36, said after the race he “felt good” midway through but could not match “incredible” Kipchoge,
34. He insisted his widely-publicised spat with
Haile Gebrselassie, the Ethiopian
Olympian, did not affect him.
The Duke of Sussex surprised onlook
‘I’m not badly injured at all, apart from my pride’
when he emerged, killing speculation his wife was about to give birth in Windsor. The Duke was seen joking and laughing as he presented medals to early finishers.
It is believed he always planned to go, but did not publicly commit to the event as it was so close to the Duchess’s due date.
He has previously attended the event for the mental health charity Heads Together, along with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The marathon was not only a success for those runners who achieved personal bests; it also brought good news for the organisers as the total amount raised for charity by the longrunning event finally hit £1billion during its 39th race.
The Virgin Money London Marathon Charity of the Year 2019 was Dementia Revolution, a partnership between the Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK. Their £3.5 million target was bolstered by a team running for Dame Barbara Windsor, 81, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2014.
Scott Mitchell, her husband, and a team of Eastenders cast members including Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale, raised £100,000 before the race started. Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, said it was an “amazing marathon” as he hinted he might run next year.
“It’s been beautifully organised and it’s so amazing to have raised the big £1 billion,” he said.
The marathon is one of the country’s largest annual fundraisers and a ballot of 444,168 applicants was narrowed down to 56,398 who were given a place.
The women’s race was won by Brigid Kosgei of Kenya, 25, who improved on last year’s second place to win her first London Marathon title. Eight-time marathon champion David Weir, 39, came fifth in the wheelchair event – his 20th consecutive London Marathon.