Skip to content

London Marathon runner stops to help exhausted fellow athlete make it to the finish

Matthew Rees gave us a moment of sportsmanship to remember.

rees

IT’S LONDON MARATHON day with a record 40,000 competitors pushing themselves every inch of the way over a gruelling 26.2 miles.

There was a Kenyan double in the elite races where Daniel Wanjiru took the men’s title in 2:05:56 while Mary Keitany set a new women-only world record in 2:17:01.

But a little bit further back in the field, Swansea Harriers runner Matthew Rees gave us a moment of inspirational sportsmanship as he neared the finish line.

As he came into the final 200 metres, Rees spotted one of his fellow athletes, David Wyeth, overcome with exhaustion and struggling to stay on his feet.

Without hesitating, Rees sacrificed his own race and time to come to Wyeth’s assistance, determined that the two of them would finish the race together.

With the help of Rees and another race official, Wyeth staggered to the finish line where he was attended to by paramedics.

“Matthew Rees, of (Swansea Harriers), you’ve just encompassed everything that’s so special about the #LondonMarathon,” said a message on the official race Twitter account.

“We salute you.”

Absolutely.

The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!

‘When people said I should go talk to someone, I told them to shut up. I thought I was right but I was weak and lost’

Close
10 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute kieran
    Favourite kieran
    Report
    Dec 29th 2020, 10:56 AM

    This is where football is at now, manager gets ten games and if the results are not good enough, the sack. Clubs want immediate gratification and have no interest in a long term plan. Sad stuff…..Hope Pulis got a nice parting handshake.

    65
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michael McGrath
    Favourite Michael McGrath
    Report
    Dec 29th 2020, 12:39 PM

    How In the name of God could you turn a club around in 45 days that’s absolutely crazy.

    32
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute James
    Favourite James
    Report
    Dec 29th 2020, 12:55 PM

    Sheffield Wednesday are a terrible club, I hope they get relegated to league one.

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute IrishOwl
    Favourite IrishOwl
    Report
    Dec 30th 2020, 12:12 PM

    @James: whys that James ? Give us your insight to the club?

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rory O'Connor
    Favourite Rory O'Connor
    Report
    Dec 29th 2020, 1:56 PM

    Hopefully this will result in a Boro win this evening. Dreadful decision by a ridiculous club who were once one of the originals. Pulis has always been a decent bloke

    18
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute IrishOwl
    Favourite IrishOwl
    Report
    Dec 30th 2020, 12:13 PM

    @Rory O’Connor: 3 points in the bag. Not bad for a ridiculous club.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Hugh De Payens
    Favourite Hugh De Payens
    Report
    Dec 29th 2020, 3:16 PM

    Horrible anti football tactics. Hopefully that’s the last we’ve seen of his pukey tactics

    7
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.