An amateur runner at the London Marathon fulfilled a six-year pledge by speeding past the elite runners to lead Sunday's race in the early stages.
After Women's Euro 2022 heroes Leah Williamson, Jill Scott and Ellen White sounded the horn to get the mass start underway, one man in particular was keen to grab five seconds of fame. Richard Lee-Wright set off at a searing pace, sprinting ahead of the elite runners to briefly lead.
Wearing a blue vest, black shorts and eye-catching yellow socks pulled up to his knees, Lee-Wright lapped up the moment as he raised his arm in celebration to the crowd. He was soon caught of course, but not before taking centre stage on the TV cameras in Blackheath.
But his efforts were far from a spontaneous rush of blood to the head. Running partner Lee Hopper later revealed on Twitter his friend and pre-planned his saunter to the front: "I ran with Richard (in blue) last week," he wrote. "He told us he was going to sprint off and lead the London Marathon for a few hundred metres. I thought he was taking the p*** but he did it."
Explaining his sprint start, Richard himself said the idea was first planted in his head back in 2016: "It all started about six years ago," he told the Metro. "A friend and me were watching the London Marathon and he said, obviously, that they run really fast.
"I told him 'I could lead the London Marathon' and he said there was no chance. When I put my arm in the air, that’s probably because I realised my dream had come true, and that I’d done it."
The BBC commentary team acknowledged Richard's presence at the front with a cheeky dig. They said: "The grand spectacle of thousands coming together in the pursuit of a common goal. Or the ones who look for a little bit of individual glory, like that man at the front there."
The Mirror's live coverage of the marathon noted his efforts, posting: "Always love this. One runner, in a blue vest and luminous yellow socks, has gone off like a bull at a gate, raising his hands to the crowd and enjoying a few seconds of TV time. He might blow up after a few miles. But he will always have had his moment in the sun."
Unsurprisingly, he wasn't able to maintain his early pace but nor did he blow up, finishing in a very respectable three hours and 23 minutes. That was more than an hour behind elite men's winner, Kenyan runner Amos Kipruto, who clocked 2:04:39.
