LONDON, April 17 (UPI) -- Paula Radcliffe was the top female to finish the London Marathon Sunday, completing the course in 2:17:42.
The British runner struck out on her own after six miles and kept up a relentless pace that was able to accommodate a 10-second unscheduled toilet stop in the 22nd mile, the BBC reported.
"I think I need to apologize to the nation for having to stop like that, but I was losing 10 seconds every time my stomach cramped up," Radcliffe said.
"I must have eaten a bit too much, I waited a bit too long. I didn't really want to have to resort to that in front of hundreds of thousands of people -- I was annoyed because I was feeling good. I went through the first half feeling great and thought I could run hard in the second half."
Romania's Constantina Tomescu-Dita came in second at 2:22:50, followed by Susan Chepkemei of Kenya at 2:24:00.
