Ukrainian refugees among 40,000 to run ‘special’ London Marathon

On a day when the capital’s streets basked in permanent smiles and unexpected sunshine, more than 40,000 runners from 18 to 89 created their own special London Marathon memories. Some stories, though, were even more extraordinary than others.

At the front of the field, the 23-year-old Ethiopian, Yalemzerf Yehualaw, became the youngest ever women’s winner of the race despite injuring her hip and knee when tripping over a speed bump six miles from the finish.

Meanwhile in the men’s race, Weynay Ghebresilasie – who was born in Eritrea but qualified to represent Great Britain after claiming asylum at the London 2012 Olympics – was the first UK athlete home in a new personal best time of 2:11:57.

Ghebresilasie’s performance came a decade after he walked out of the athletes’ village, threw away the sim card that had been given to him by the team’s minders and asked to stay in the UK.

After his run, Ghebresilasie, who was a flagbearer for Eritrea at the London Games, explained his decision. “Before the 2012 Olympics my country was not in a good situation, that’s why I stayed in Britain,” he said. “I was in Sunderland and then moved to Birmingham and I’m in Scotland now. My plan is to run at the world championships and the Paris Olympics. I will try to prepare for my next London Marathon and hopefully run for Great Britain.”

Among the thousands of runners, there were two Ukrainians, Kostiantyn Bidnenko and Viktoriya Kiose, who had originally had no plans to run the race when their country was invaded in February.

However, when Bidnenko, 35, reported for military duty in Kyiv he was told he couldn’t serve on the frontline due to alkaptonuria – a rare, progressive genetic disease that causes pain in the joints.

So after her and