Claire Lomas First To Finish Great North Run 2016
THE inspirational Claire Lomas was the first over the finish line in the 36th staging of the Great North Run half marathon on Sunday.
Claire crossed the line at 10am before the elite men, women or wheelchairs, completing the final section of a Great North Run journey which started on Wednesday morning.
The 36-year-old was paralysed from the chest down in a riding accident in 2007, but walked the 13.1-mile course using a revolutionary bionic exoskeleton ReWalk suit along with husband Dan and her support team, raising more than £10,000 for the Nicholls Spinal Injury Fund on the way.
And the Leicestershire mum of one, who announced on the course that she was 16 weeks pregnant with her second child, took in the final mile of the famous course with thousands of supporters cheering her on.
The story captured the hearts and minds of the nation, with Farah calling Claire ‘amazing’ after her Great North Run finish.
Farah said: “It’s pretty amazing for someone to have gone through everything she’s gone through, and yet still manage to finish the Great North Run. I just want to congratulate her and her team. This is what the Great North Run is about.
“Anyone can come out and have the motivation, and for someone like her to do that is pretty amazing.
“We just need to encourage other people to do it, and I just want to congratulate everyone who’s behind her and herself. For her to have the courage to complete is pretty amazing.”
Claire said: “I’m so relieved to have finished. It was incredible. I had so much support from everyone on the course.
“There were times when I thought I was going to quit, and I questioned whether I was going to be here today, but I’m so glad I made it.”
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