Inspirational Scot with cerebral palsy completes London Marathon
An inspirational Scot who has cerebral palsy has completed the London Marathon.
Andrew Tomlinson, from Glasgow, capped off the six major marathons when he finished the race on Sunday. The 40-year-old has hemiplegic hypertonia cerebral palsy which means he cannot respond with his left arm or left leg.
After running in Tokyo three weeks ago, Andrew told the PA news agency: “Crowds in London are far superior. It pushed me on. I probably ran a wee bit quicker than I expected to, because I’ve not been feeling good.”
“I reckon I’m the first person with cerebral palsy to do all six majors. I’ve also ran in under four hours which I suspect may be a world record.”
Andrew was raising funds for the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow and My Name’5 Doddie foundation, which funds research into treatments for motor neurone disease.
He added: “I’m a great rugby fan, I’m a Scot and I grew up watching Doddie Weir when I was a young boy.”
A record number of people took part in the London Marathon in what was billed as its most inclusive year yet.
More than 50,000 people took part in the 26.2-mile course through the capital on what was a dry and bright day with highs of 12C.
Runners of all ages aiming to complete the route for charity poured through the start line from 10am on Sunday, some in costumes.
The route was the same as in recent years, starting at Blackheath and ending at The Mall - taking in Big Ben, Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace.
Among the general participants to catch the eye this year were Jason Byrd, who carried a washing machine on his back.
Famous faces taking part included comedian and TV presenter Romesh Ranganathan, who ran for suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably the day after starting his new Radio 2 Saturday morning show.
Fellow comedian Joel Dommett is running in the Piranha costume first worn by this year’s Masked Singer winner, McFly’s Danny Jones. Jones’s bandmate Harry Judd took part this year too.
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