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The junior medic, 29, was cheered as he became the first British man to cross the finish line in seventh place. The marathon newbie’s 2hr 12m 58sec feat means he qualifies for next year’s European Championships and Commonwealth Games selection.

The delighted Yorkshireman, who has seen the tragedy of Covid at Leeds General Infirmary, said: “It’s been difficult for my colleagues. There have been challenges but more around Covid risk for myself. I have done all this training and been trying to avoid catching it beforehand.”

In 2020 the pandemic restricted the 26.2-mile event to elite runners but yesterday was the first full-scale race in more than two years.

Some 40,000 runners took part, plus tens of thousands more virtually, in what could be the biggest race in history. Usually held in April, it was delayed until yesterday because of Covid restrictions.

The late Carry On and EastEnders star Dame Barbara Windsor’s husband Scott Mitchell, 57, his nephew Harry and brother-in-law Laurence, ran for Alzheimer’s Research UK in T-shirts bearing her image.

Paying tribute to Dame Barbara, who died of Alzheimer’s last December aged 83 , Scott said: “Having Ba on my top and constantly in my thoughts just reminded me why I’m doing it. We need to find effective treatments for this devastating disease and I couldn’t be prouder to play a small part in bringing that day forward.”

Other famous faces were ex-England cricket captain Andrew Strauss, 44, DJ Chris Evans, 55, and BBC newsreader Sophie Raworth, 53.

Among several MPs running was ex-health secretary Matt Hancock, raising money for St Nicholas Hospice Care in his West Suffolk constituency.

Cystic Fibrosis Trust fundraiser Liam McHugh, 60, of Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland, whose daughter Rachel, 29, has CF, said: “We must keep fighting.”

Changes this year to reduce the Covid risk included runners providing negative lateral flow tests and medals put into kit bags instead of around necks.

Ethiopian Sisay Lemma, 30, won the men’s elite race in 2h 4m 1sec and Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei, 28, won the women’s event in 2h 17m 42sec.

Event director Hugh Brasher said yesterday showed “there’s light at the end of this desperately dark tunnel we’ve been in for the last 18 months”.

He added: “This is about London’s heart and soul coming back.”

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