Nell races through London marathon

She made her name as an I'm a Celebrity contestant. Now Nell McAndrew has proved she can compete with the country's top athletes.

McAndrew, 31, finished the London Marathon in 3 hours 11 minutes, four minutes under the time required to run in the elite group at next year's marathon.

McAndrew, who wept as she crossed the line, said: "It was the toughest race I have ever done. Because I tried so hard I was a little emotional at the end." Some 33,000 entrants enjoyed glorious sunshine on the 25th anniversary of the first marathon. Paula Radcliffe won the women's event with a time of two hours 17 minutes 42 seconds. Kenya's Martin Lel, 26, was the surprise winner of the men's race, in two hours, seven minutes and 26 seconds.

Olympic gold medallists James Cracknell, Haile Gebrselassie and Sir Steve Redgrave were the official starters of the women's, wheelchair and men's races in Greenwich. Sir Steve then took part in the mass race, finishing in four hours 21 minutes.

Michel Roux won the battle of the celebrity chefs, completing in three hours 18 minutes to beat Gordon Ramsay by 20 minutes. Ramsay said: "It was very hard. My upper body is fine but my legs are killing me."

At the other end of the spectrum was TV presenter Lorraine Kelly, who fought a cold to finish in six hours and 35 minutes.