North Wales runners join London Marathon 2017 line up

More than 40,000 people, many of whom were from North Wales, lined up to start the London Marathon this morning.

Runners were waved off on the 26.2 mile journey by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

Spectators witnessed a heart-warming act of sportsmanship when Matthew Rees of Swansea Harriers stopped running 200 metres from the finishing line, sacrificing a strong finish to help injured runner David Wyeth of Chorlton Runners to complete the race.

Wyeth’s legs went just 200m from the finish line as the exhaustion took over.

Gwenan Williams, from Denbigh, completed the London Marathon in 4 hours 26 minutes.

She said: “It was an amazing experience but my legs are suffering a bit now.”

“I am very proud so many people have supported me.”

Gwenan, 35, has raised nearly £4,000 for the Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Gobowen- which is a charity very close to her heart.

She said: “My daughter, Mati Nel, was diagnosed with DDH (hip dysplasia) when she was eight months old and as a result had surgery in Gobowen when she was one-year-old.

“She was subsequently in a spica cast, which is a full body cast, for three months followed by six months in a hip abduction brace. Mati is now approaching her fourth birthday and we still attend the hospital for six monthly x-rays on her hip.

“We are so grateful for the fantastic care she has received at Gobowen and feel very fortunate to have access to such expertise without having to travel too far.

Gwenan’s husband was waiting for her at the finish line while her two young daughters watched at home with their nan.

She added: “I have been training since Christmas- it was quite tough because I have two young daughters.”

Welshpool’s Great Britain international Andrew Davies finished 16th overall in a new personal best of 2 hours 15 minutes 11 seconds, and was the third British runner home.

The Commonwealth Games athlete, running for Stockport, finished just seven seconds behind Scot Robbie Simpson, a former winner of the Snowdon international race.

Davies, who formerly played for Newtown in the Welsh Premier League, went through halfway in 67.10 and maintained the pace to take over a minute off his previous best.

There were several other exceptional performances by North Wales runners, with Paul Jones (Oswestry) finishing third in the M40 class in 2-33.36 and the amazingly consistent Ian James (Wrexham) also coming third in the M55 group in 2-51.42.

Former Welsh champion Alun Vaughan (Eryri) pulled out after going through halfway in 72.59.

Daniel Wanjiru and Mary Keitany, from Kenya, won the men’s and women’s elite races respectively.

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