London Marathon 2019: I lost sight in one eye as I crawled to finish line, says elite runner Hayley Carruthers

Carruthers finished 18th in Sunday’s race in a personal best time of 2hr 33min 59sec – but she had to crawl over the finish line

Elite British runner Hayley Carruthers says she lost sight in one eye as she crawled over the finish line in a dramatic finish at the London Marathon – only to return to work on Monday.

Ms Carruthers finished 18th in Sunday’s race in a personal best time of 2hr 33min 59sec, but after going out hard she found the second half was a “survival fest”.

The 26-year-old NHS worker fell to her knees as she approached the line and had to be helped across the finish by officials, but posted a picture of herself back working at hospital in Birmingham on Monday, tweeting: “Don’t worry guys! I am a’ok! Back to reality...#doubelife.”

“I started counting my steps and my head was gone,” Ms Carruthers told the BBC's Radio 1 Newsbeat. “I think I lost sight in one eye. I couldn’t lift my legs at all and I just could’t move. it was just petrifying.”

Ms Carruthers described the race as the toughest challenge of her life.

“We started too fast and I got carried away with the excitement of being in the elite race and all the excitement of London really.

“We ran the first half far too quickly and it just ended up being a survival fest. To get to 20 miles and think I’ve still got another 10km to go – I genuinely didn’t think I could finish.

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”