MARLOW rowing legend Katherine Grainger officially kicked off the London Marathon alongside her Olympic partner Anna Watkins on Sunday – before both jumped back into the crowd and joined the throng of runners to run the 26.2 mile race.

The gold medal-winning pair, who won the double sculls at London 2012, were separated by less than five minutes with Grainger completing the course in three hours, 55 minutes and 59 seconds and Watkins just behind in four hours and 40 seconds.

Grainger ran to raise money for International Inspiration (IN), a charity which uses the power of sport to transform the lives of children and young people around the world and Watkins ran for the Macmillan Cancer charity.