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Chrissie Wellington to run 2017 London Marathon

Triathlon legend Chrissie Wellington announces over Twitter she'll be running the London Marathon this year.

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One of triathlon’s greatest athletes in the history of the sport announced her plans to run this year’s London Marathon. Four-time Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington tweeted the news on Tuesday, citing the iconic race as a source of inspiration for her career in endurance sport.

Wellington, 39, was also the Kona course record holder until Mirinda Carfrae lowered it in 2013. She currently holds the Challenge Roth course record and overall full distance world record time. She has been retired from professional triathlon since 2012 and been involved in international development, specifically helping children in developing nations benefit from sport, since then.

Her fastest marathon time in a full distance race was at Challenge Roth in 2011 when she ran 2:44:35, a time that would be competitive in the men’s field of most full distance races.

How fast will Wellington run in London?

She replied to a tweet directed towards her after her announcement that she’s “keeping the goal realistic with a kid and job,” and she “just wants to enjoy the process and event, without smashing [herself].”

This is the second time in the past year that a notable professional triathlete has raced a marathon. Gwen Jorgensen raced the New York City Marathon last November, where she placed 14th in a time of 2:41:01.