Chrissie Wellington wins age group, goes sub-2:50 at London Marathon

@chrissiesmiles No way can anyone have a beaming smile like this after running a London Marathon…Well done Chrissie… pic.twitter.com/NVYVnyqnfq

— NickyHayesPhotos (@NickyHayesPhoto) April 23, 2017

When Chrissie Wellington announced earlier this year that she would run the London Marathon, many wondered how fast the four-time Ironman world champion would run — would she run close to her fastest marathon time in a triathlon (2:44:35 at Challenge Roth in 2011) or would she simply complete the race for fun?

Winning the 40 to 44 age group, Wellington clocked 2:49:01 at yesterday’s race. That’s nearly 20 minutes faster than her time at the London Marathon 15 years ago, when she ran 3:08 in the early days of her endurance sport career.

London Marathon DONE – 2:48.23 Emotional reunion with the BEST training partner @chrissiesmiles HUGE thanks to @coachnewport you're a LEGEND pic.twitter.com/S3hd8h4dlB

— Steve Hall (@stevebeardhall) April 23, 2017

Here’s a breakdown of Wellington’s splits from yesterday:

Mum and dad. You're awesome pic.twitter.com/F6r2sdTBaS

— Chrissie Wellington (@chrissiesmiles) April 24, 2017

Wellington retired from pro triathlon in 2012. She still holds the all-time fastest women’s full distance time in the sport.