LONDON, April 15: A 90-year old Scottish woman completed the 22nd London Marathon on Sunday, one of the oldest ever to finish the gruelling 42.195 km (26.2 miles) race.

Jenny Wood Allen, a veteran of 16 London marathons who took up long-distance running aged 71, walked the winding street route unaided to finish in 11 hours and 34 minutes.

“My knees hurt very much and my thighs were suffering, but I was determined to finish,” she said at the end of the race.

Allen, from Dundee in Scotland, was accompanied on the route by two friends who chivalrously finished behind her so she would not come in last.

The 119 lb (54 kg) great-grandmother walked the course on the advice of friends, after running in all the 50 other marathons she has entered.

A former sprint cyclist in her youth, she said this would be her last marathon, but not her last race.

“I will concentrate on shorter distances”, she said, adding that marathon training took up too much time.—Reuters