Hayley Carruthers collapses as she crosses the finish line. Photo / Getty
Hayley Carruthers collapses as she crosses the finish line. Photo / Getty
After stumbling to the ground and crawling on her hands and knees across the finish line of the London Marathon, British runner Hayley Carruthers didn't even give herself a day off work today.
Carruthers stumbled her way into the heart's of viewers to be hailed as one of the marathon's elite after her incredible display of resilience.
The research radiographer, who works with cancer patients in Birmingham, was stretchered off once she had crawled her frail body over the final metres of the 42.2km course.
Medical staff carry Hayley Carruthers after reaching the finish line at the London Marathon. Photo / Getty
And despite being praised for her efforts, Carruthers wasn't overly pleased with the way she finished.
"I'm not badly injured at all, apart from my pride! I'm really touched that people have been so kind about it. It's not a reaction I expected - it's certainly not my goal to end up in that state at the finish, "she told the Daily Telegraph.
"I would rather I hadn't put myself in that situation in the first place by pacing the first half a little more conservatively. The big thing is to learn from it and use it as fuel.
"We train very hard to cover the whole distance strongly and that will be the goal for next time. I've just had a lovely meal with my amazing family, they've looked after me brilliantly as always and keep things in the right perspective.
Carruthers, who only started running three years ago, finished the iconic marathon in a time of 2:34:03 - just three minutes off British Athletics qualifying standard for the world championships, and six-and-a-half minutes short of the official qualifying time for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Hayley Carruthers crosses the finishing line. Photo / Getty
In an interview prior to the race, she revealed that she had to train both early mornings and late nights to fit in the kilometres around her nine-hour workday schedule - a lifestyle she said was tough to maintain at times.
"Sometimes it's hard," she said."I can't have a nap in the afternoon which, some days, is really tough.
"Once, on a Tuesday night, doping control knocked on my door at 10pm, and I was like, 'I just want to go to bed'."
Viewers expressed concerns over the scale of Carruthers injuries following the race but it seems the inspirational runner only suffered a few minor bumps and bruises.
She did, however, say the injuries taught her how "not to run a marathon" in a post to Twitter.
Meanwhile, British Olympic champion Mo Farah finished fifth in the men's race with a time of 02:05:39, behind Kenyan winner and marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, who crossed the line in 02:02:37.
