Record Breaking London Marathon for St Mary’s

The 2018 London Marathon saw St Mary’s alumni, athletes and staff breaking records in a range of classifications in the hottest race on record.

Alumnus and four-time Olympic Champion Sir Mo Farah broke the British Marathon record, which had stood since 1985. Sir Mo beat Steve Jones’s record by almost 50 seconds to finish in third place in a time of 2:06:21, to join his records at 10km and Half Marathon. He was joined in his race by Alumnus Stephen Scullion, who scored a personal best (PB) of 2:15:55 to finish twelfth.

In the Women’s Race, Primary Education Alumna Lily Partridge set a PB to win the British Women’s race, finishing eighth overall, in a time of 02:29:24. Also competing in the elite women’s race was Endurance Performance and Coaching Centre (EPACC) athlete Rebecca Murray, who finished as the third placed Brit and 12^th overall in the elite women’s race on her Marathon debut.

David Weir CBE meanwhile, who regularly trains at St Mary’s, won his eighth London Marathon. He completed the race in 01:31:15, less than a second ahead of second placed Marcel Hug.

Speaking of their performances, Director of Sport Andrew Reid-Smith said, “It was wonderful to see Mo competing in world-class marathon field and breaking the British record, Dave getting a record eighth win and Lily running a PB to win the British Women’s race. Congratulations to all the runners for their excellent performances.”

Elsewhere, St Mary’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Global Engagement Prof John Brewer completed his 20^th Marathon, running with Casualty star Jaye Griffiths. Prof Brewer has also accompanied Radio 1 DJ Greg James, Channel 4 Presenter Kate Quilton and Channel 5 News Presenter Sian Williams in recent years.