As tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the English capital this morning to take part in the London Marathon, all had one thing on their mind: the finish line.
After running for hours on end with achy limbs, the runners probably assumed that once they reached the finish line the most difficult part would be over. This was indeed the case for the majority of participants, but not all…
Because one man, dressed aptly as Big Ben, struggled to even cross the finish line when his larger than life costume prevented him from completing the race.
Take a look at the moment it happened below:
The man confidently jogs towards the finish line, still in full costume, never slowing pace until he gets stopped in his tracks by the scaffolding which marks the finish.
At which point, he realises the error of his ways and attempts to limbo his way under the structure to ensure he finishes the marathon. But alas, it’s not to be as no matter how much he bends, the costume won’t fit under.
It’s not until a helper comes along and helps manoeuvre his costume that he’s able to successfully cross the line and finish the race; not before he falls to his knees first though.
I guess this is why you don't see many Big Bens out joggingpic.twitter.com/bBILuq7irw
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) April 28, 2019
Bless him. After running 26.2 miles in the (clearly not very race-proof) costume, who would’ve thought it would hinder him only at the last hurdle?!
To be honest with you, I’m just impressed he made it to the end without taking his costume off. That takes some doing, especially when it’s so bulky.
Approximately 41,000 runners took part in today’s (April 28) marathon, with Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya coming first in the men’s elite. Not only that, Kipchoge clocked the second-fastest marathon time ever at 2:02:39.
In fairness though, he wasn’t wearing a Big Ben costume sooo…
Olympian Sir Mo Farah also took part in the men’s elite, but unfortunately finished in fifth place, admitting to The Guardian that he started to struggle around mile 20.
In the women’s elite, Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei won her race in a time of 2:18:20 – beating favourites Mary Keitany and Vivian Cheruiyot. Dan Romanchuk won the men’s wheelchair race and Manuela Schar won the women’s wheelchair event.
Congratulations to all who took part, and keep going to those who are still running!
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).