David Weir (athlete) - London Marathon

London Marathon

Weir finished fifth in the 2000 London marathon in a time of 1:47:11. Then in the 2001 London marathon, he finished third in a time of 1:50:05.

His first win in the competition came in 2002 at the age of 21 with a time of 1:39:44, in which he beat his personal best by seven minutes. He was seen as an unlikely challenger for the title as his personal best did not put him amongst the top 12 people on the starting line, and he was the youngest competitor in the race. Weir's training partner Tushar Patel, both members of Kingsmeadow-based Velocity Wheelchair Racing Club, finished a minute and half behind in second place. After the race, Weir said: "It was a childhood dream to win the London Marathon and I'm extremely happy with how the race went. I was sure people were going to catch up with me when I made a break away but they didn't. It was brilliant to cross the line first and with a personal best time."

Weir was second in the 2003 and 2004 London marathons with times of 1:34:48 (5 minutes faster than his personal best) in 2003 and 1:42:50 in 2004.

In 2005 Weir finished third, with a time of 1:36:03, in a race that saw the first seven competitors cross the line separated by 13 seconds.

In 2006 Weir won his second London marathon setting a course record in wet conditions with a time of 1:29:48. Weir said after his win "I wasn't even going to take part this morning. I've been suffering from a cold and it was 50/50 whether I would turn up or not."

In 2007 Weir won his third London marathon beating Australian Paralympic champion Kurt Fearnley by one second in a time of 1:30:49, the second fastest time seen on the London course. Fearnley, undefeated since October 2006 in eight marathons, paid tribute to his fellow competitor.

On 13 April 2008, Weir won his third London Marathon in a row, and his fourth in total, in a time of 1:33:56, finishing four seconds ahead of Kurt Fearnley with a sprint finish on the Mall. Weir's fourth win gave him £7,600 in prize money.

In 2009 Weir finished in second place, in a time of 1:28:57, behind Australian Kurt Fearnley. In an sprint finish on the Mall, Fearnley set a new course record of 1:28:56.

Despite getting punctures to his front and left wheels Weir still managed to finish in third place in the 2010 London marathon in a time of 1:37:01. At one point, he led the race by 4 minutes.

In 2011 Weir won his fifth London marathon in a time of 1:30:05. This was the tenth year in a row that Weir had finished with a podium spot.

In the run up to the 2012 London marathon, Weir revealed "What I’d say to the guys coming to London is that my training is going great and I don’t think I’ve ever felt in such good shape at this point in the year. I’m averaging about 80 miles a week in the chair."

In 2012 Weir won his sixth London marathon in a time of 1:32:26. He remarked after the race "Grey-Thompson inspired me in this sport. I saw her compete in Sydney as a youngster and I went on to medal in 2008." Weir hinted that the 2012 London competition might be his last.

With Weir's sixth win in the London Marathon he equaled the record of Baroness Tanni-Grey Thompson. He said afterwards: "This is my favourite win ever because the field was so strong. I was quite emotional when I crossed the line as it could be my last London Marathon for a while."

Weir hasn't always seen eye to eye with the organisers of the London marathon and in 2006 criticised them for treating wheelchair athletes as second class citizens. He told the Sutton Guardian "If I can help put disabled athletics on the map along the way, that is what I want to do."