07 Sep UK’s best young endurance athletes attend London Marathon Young Athletes Camp

Matthew Berry was the fastest of the lot, becoming ‘the fastest marathoner dressed as a zombie (male)’ in 2:43:54 while the crowd saluted Charlotte Farge, Cey Uzun, Rob Jones, Helen Smith, Andy Moulden and David Brennan, who together carried their Thunderbird 2 outfit across the Finish Line in 5:59:33 to become the fastest marathoners in a six-person costume.

The day started with Britain’s talented youngsters showing their promise in the Virgin Money Giving Mini London Marathon, once the nursery of Farah and David Weir, none more so than Bea Wood, who won the girls’ Under-15 race for a second successive year, and Zien Zhou, who was the first athlete across the line as he defended his title in the Under-17 boys’ wheelchair event.

At the end of an incredible day, event director Hugh Brasher summed it all up, saying: “We have had many extraordinary days in the history of the London Marathon but today was even more than that. Thanks to the incredible efforts of a record number of runners, we have now raised more than £1,000,000,000 for good causes.

“We saw fantastic races with Eliud Kipchoge, the greatest marathon runner of all time, recording the second fastest time in history to smash his own course record and become the first ever four-time male open champion. Bridget Kosgei won her first London title and Daniel Romanchuk and Manuela Schär dominated the wheelchair races with emphatic victories.