London Marathon man sprints 'past the elite athletes' at beginning of race to hold incredible 10-second lead, he's become a 'legend'

A man has become a social media sensation for his ‘sensational’ 10-second lead at the 2023 London Marathon after immediately sprinting at the start of the race.

The 43rd London Marathon featured athletes including Olympian Sir Mo Farah, Kenenisa Bekele, Kelvin Kiptum and Mosinet Geremew.

Kiptum, 23, emerged as the winner of the men’s race with a time of 2:01:25, which is the second-fastest marathon run in history.

But before the Kenyan long-distance runner’s triumphant win at the London Marathon, one man hogged the limelight for 10 seconds during the event (watch it in the video player below).

Fans were left in stitches after they spotted the man ‘sprinting past the elite athletes’ to have his ‘moment’ leading the race -- and it seemed worth it based on the reception he received.

“This is really funny,” one fan said in response to the footage.

Someone else commented: “This is 100 per cent me during school cross-country.”

While another tweeted: “I support this level of legend.”

A fourth Twitter user added: “Some guy at the start of London Marathon sprinting past the elite athletes to have his moment leading the race, geeing up the crowd once for the full 10 seconds he was there [at the London Marathon].”

And a fifth wrote: “LOL, some d**k in the London Marathon sprinting at the start to get in the lead for a few seconds. Aye son, eh [sic] led the London Marathon back in the day.”

Sifan Hassan won the women’s race with a time of 2:18:33, while Marcel Hug (1:23:44) and Madison de Rozario (1:38:51) won the wheelchair men's and women’s races respectively.

Farah, who finished ninth in the race, opened up about the “emotional” experience he felt running in the final London Marathon of his prolific career.

Speaking on BBC One, he said: “London has been so great to me over the years and I wanted to be here to say thank you to the crowd and the support that was just amazing.

“Training went well, and I was confident and I thought I could do between 2:05 and 2:07 but you never know with the marathon.

“I gave it my all but my body just wasn’t responding and that’s when you know when it’s time to call it a day.

“Part of me was wanting to cry. The people were amazing, even in the rain to line the streets and that’s what this is all about. It’s what has kept me going for so long throughout my career.

“I will miss that feeling, I am emotional today.”