Charlotte Purdue runs 2h 23m in the 2021 London Marathon

The London Marathon was also on last weekend with some 36,000 people taking part. The one performance that stood out for me was that of Charlotte Purdue who finished in an impressive time of 2 hours 23 minutes and 26 seconds.

This was better than her personal best by more than two minutes and she is now the 3rd fastest on the British all-time list, with Paula Radcliffe first.

There is also a bit of a back story to this. According to an article on the BBC news website, she wasn't picked for the Olympics in Japan by UK Athletics on medical grounds.

"On the advice of a UK Athletics (UKA) doctor, Purdue sat out March's Olympic trials because of an injury, having already achieved the time needed at the 2019 London Marathon.

But she then wasn't selected for Tokyo on medical grounds, with Purdue claiming information cited at the selection hearing was false. UKA declined to comment."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/58792117

With the Olympic Marathon taking place last August, it probably wasn't UK Athletics brightest decision.

Side note... I remember seeing Charlotte Purdue run at the Cork City Sports a few years back... maybe 2014 or so. As for what distance she ran then???