Thousands of professional and amateur runners took to the streets of London last Sunday to undertake the 26-and-a-half mile ordeal that is the London Marathon.

Among them were a handful of chefs who had managed to find time in between services to train for their big day.

Michel Roux junior of Le Gavroche restaurant, London, was the quickest across the line with a time of three hours 18 minutes.

Phil Howard, owner of London’s the Square restaurant, and Gordon Ramsay were just behind him at three hours 31 minutes and three hours 38 minutes, respectively.

Paul Heathcote, owner of the self-titled restaurant empire, completed the race in under the all important four-hour threshold in three hours 59 minutes.

Gary Hollihead, chef-proprietor of Berkshire-based the Inn on the Green, and Ronan Sayburn, head sommelier at Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, crossed the line with respectable times of four hours 28 minutes and four hours 30 minutes.

British champion Paula Radcliffe won the women’s race and broke her own record with a time of two hours, 17 minutes and 42 seconds, while Kenya's Martin Lel won the men’s clocking two hours, seven minutes and 26 seconds.

By Emily Manson

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