Comeback Queen Paula bids farewell to marathon

World record holder Paula Radcliffe, 41, completed her final competitive marathon in an unofficial time of 2:36:55 – just three years after surgery on a foot injury.

Radcliffe, who won the London Marathon in 2002, 2003 and 2005, took part in the main event with thousands of amateur runners and charity fundraisers, rather than the elite field.

She embraced her husband Gary Lough and children Isla and Raphael at the finish. Throughout the race, thousands of fans cheered her on as she completed a race she once feared she’d never run again.

A foot injury in 2012 ruled her out of the London Olympics and the surgery that followed had put doubt on her ever running again. But she came back, only to be blighted again by an Achilles injury while training for the marathon this year. Once again, she came back.

“Down the last mile I thought, ‘I don’t care about the time’. I just wanted to thank as many people as I could,” Radcliffe said.

Prince Harry presented medals to the winners of the elite races, and also gave a lifetime achievement award to Radcliffe.

“He said ‘well done’ and he was asking me how I was feeling,” she recalled later.

“He was chatting to my kids, which really made their day and is something they will remember forever.”

Her women’s world record of 2:15:25, set in London in 2003, is almost three minutes faster than any other woman has ever run, and remains after yesterday.

More than 38,000 runners took part in the marathon, making it the biggest in the event’s 35 years.

The Beckham family were among an estimated 750,000 spectators who lined the streets of the capital, as they cheered on 12-year-old Romeo Beckham as he completed the three-mile children’s marathon. He was supported by his father David, mother Victoria and brothers Brooklyn and Cruz, who all wore white T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan Team Romeo.

Brooklyn posted a picture of Romeo on Instagram and wrote that he had raised £6,000 for UNAIDS, the joint United Nations programme on Aids, and David’s Unicef 7 fund.

Conditions were reasonably good for the runners, with patchy rain and mild temperatures on a gloomy day in the capital.

British wheelchair athlete David Weir’s bid for a record seventh Virgin Money London Marathon title ended in disappointment as he was pipped to the line by American Joshua George. In the men’s elite race, Eliud Kipchoge crossed the finish line first in 2:04:42, while Ethiopia’s Tigist Tufa ended Kenya’s domination of the women’s race in a time of 2:23:22.

Five politicians took time off from defending their House of Commons seats to pound the streets, including Labour Shadow Justice Minister and Barnsley Central candidate Dan Jarvis.Celebrities who tackled the course included DJs Chris Evans and Greg James, TV presenter Jenni Falconer, racing driver Jenson Button, double Olympic gold medallist rower James Cracknell, fashion designer Henry Holland, Made In Chelsea star Oliver Proudlock and US model Christy Turlington Burns.

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