FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SOUTHPORT'S NICKI TOPS LONDON MARATHON'S #2NDMILLION
A 29-year-old from Southport who claims to be "no runner at all" now shares
a unique bond with the joint-winners of the first London Marathon.
Nicki Ainsworth clocked 5:56.25 to finish the 2016 Virgin Money London
Marathon in 36,082nd place. Little did she know that by doing this she
became the 1,000,001st finisher in the 36-year history of the event and
therefore number 1 of #2ndmillion.
The #2ndmillion project is the second phase of the #oneinamillion campaign
which celebrated every runner who successfully completed the 26.2-mile
challenge since the first race in 1981.
Shannon Foudy, 39, a serving police officer from Hemel Hempstead, became
the millionth finisher of the Virgin Money London Marathon when she crossed
the line in 36,081 place on 24 April.
But Nicki now has the prestige of becoming number 1 in the #2ndmillion
campaign as the Virgin Money London Marathon starts the countdown to its
two millionth finisher.
Nicki now shares being number one with the joint winners of the first
London Marathon: Dick Beardsley (USA) and Inge Simonsen (Norway) who
famously crossed the Finish Line hand-in-hand in 1981.
"It's a bit of a family joke," said Nicki. "My older sister Sarah, who did
the London Marathon in 2010, always says she is number one, but she can't
this time!
"I knew I was close to being the millionth finisher but when I went on the
London Marathon website to look at my results, it was a bit confusing to
see me down as number one.
"My first thought was 'that can't be right', but then it became clear that
it was number one for the #2ndmillion and that's a nice thing to be able to
say."
Nicki was making her marathon debut in London but following in family
footsteps. In addition to sister Sarah, mum Judith and brother-in-law David
have also run the 26.2 miles of London.
"It's become something of a family tradition," said Nicki who was raising
money for MacMillan Cancer Support. "It was the first time I had done it
and I'm by no means a runner.
"It was a really good experience. I had only done a 5k before training for
the marathon so it was a bit of a struggle, but it really felt like an
achievement when I had done it."
Every finisher in the history of the London Marathon is able to buy a
special commemorative t-shirt with their unique finisher number, with all
proceeds going to the London Marathon Charitable Trust.
For those that finished in the first million, their finisher number between
1 and 1,000,000 will be printed on #oneinamillion T-shirts, and for those
that finished after Nicki in 2016 (and in future years), their finisher
number - again starting from 1 - will be printed on #2ndmillion T-shirts.
To order your T-shirt, visit www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com
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