More than 38,000 runners and wheelchair racers set off from south east London on a damp and chilly morning yesterday and 37,675 crossed the Finish Line in The Mall by the end of Race Day, almost 1,000 more than the previous highest in 2012.

On a day when three world records were set in the IPC Athletics Marathon World Championships, and Tatyana McFadden smashed her own wheelchair course record to complete a hat-trick of victories in the women’s event, it was two thrilling elite races that captured the sport at its very best.

“Yesterday we saw these outstanding athletes put on two astonishing races,” said Brasher. “And we had world records and course records across the event.

“But as ever there were stories of personal achievements right through the day, including from our celebrities where Chris Newton improved his best-ever time from last year and Christy Turlington Burns came in under four hours for the first time.”

Brasher recalled the words of his father, race co-founder Chris, who captured the London Marathon’s unique character 35 years ago when he described it as “the only occasion in the world when ordinary people can stand on the start line with the gods of the sport”.

“Every one of our runners gets the unique experience of three-quarters of a million people willing them on to be successful,” he said. “That just doesn’t happen in any other sport. You can’t play with the best in front of a packed crowd at Wembley or on Centre Court at Wimbledon.

“This event is great because of that emotional element that comes with so much support. It is hugely important.”

Such emotion was perhaps never felt more keenly than yesterday when Paula Radcliffe rode a wave of support from south east London to Westminster as she bid farewell to the race that first inspired her to run.

By the time Radcliffe made her way down The Mall, greeted by standing ovations from the grandstands on both sides of the finishing straight, the early morning rain had stopped and the streets were drying beneath tens of thousands of determined feet.

“The weather forecast in the morning was terrible, but the skies cleared and gave us a magical day,” said Brasher. “Right from the start when Dick Beardsley and Inge Simonsen reproduced their hand-in-hand gesture to celebrate the 35th anniversary, to the very end when we had astonishing numbers across the Finish Line.

“We were even trending worldwide on Twitter by the end of the day, and when we got bumped off BBC1 in the morning to be shown on BBC2 we attracted more viewers than Ed Miliband and Boris Johnson on the Andrew Marr Show, so the Virgin Money London Marathon is officially more popular than the general election.”

At the end of it all is a feeling of relief, he admitted, following 364 days of hard work and planning.

“It all culminates in just one special occasion and there are no second chances,” he said. “The work the London Marathon team puts in is amazing, and the result was a day that was quite exceptional.”

Source: Virgin Money London Marathon