Thousands of runners pledge to complete London Marathon in memory of Matt Campbell

‘Matt had 3.7 miles left to finish, and that’s the distance you need to run’

Thousands of runners have pledged to run 3.7 miles in memory of Matt Campbell, who sadly died after taking part in the London Marathon on Sunday.

The former Masterchef contestant passed away in hospital after collapsing at 22.5 miles during the race.

The event was reported as being the hottest London Marathon to ever take place in the capital, with temperatures reaching a soaring 23.2C.

At 2.16pm on the day of the race, the official London Marathon Twitter account announced that water stations from miles eight to 10 had run out of water, meaning that many runners had to go several miles without adequate hydration in the sweltering heat.

A number of runners were taken ill throughout the route, with some firefighters even using their hoses to cool runners down as they passed fire brigades.

Campbell had been running the London Marathon and took part in the Manchester Marathon two weeks prior in memory of his father Martin, who died 18 months ago.

He set up a JustGiving page to raise money for the Brathay Trust, a charity that supports children and young people.

His page has now raised more than £115,000 from more than 8,000 donors.

Matt Dorber, a runner from Somerset, wanted to organise something significant to honour Campbell’s memory following the news of his death.

He and fellow runner Martin Doyle set up the Finish For Matt Facebook page, with the aim of encouraging runners to complete the last few miles of the marathon that Campbell was unable to.

“Matt had 3.7 miles left to finish, and that’s the distance you need to run,” Dorber wrote on the Facebook group.

“Any time over the weekend, whenever suits you. Some people are going out at 10am on Sunday in line with when the Marathon started, others are doing Saturday, some are even doing it now.”

He asked that people use the hashtag #finishformatt so that they could keep track of the runners taking part all over the world.

The group currently has almost 4,000 members, with many sharing where and when they’ll be running the last 3.7 miles.

“Running today in Highlands Ranch, Colorado,” one person wrote on Facebook.

“Honoured to say I’ll be running 3.7 miles tonight with my running club in Roscommon Ireland #finishformatt,” another participant commented.

The Brathay Trust has commended Campbell for the amount that he has contributed towards the charity.

“We are stunned and humbled by the outpouring of love and support in his memory on his JustGiving page, creating a lasting legacy allowing us to reach many more young people,” the charity said in a statement.