Nell McAndrew

Sport McAndrew's time in the 2005 London Marathon was fast enough that she qualified to run in the British Championship women's race in future events.

For the 2008 Great North Run, she competed with the fun runners dressed as Wonder Woman to help raise funds for charity.

In March 2012 McAndrew was the first woman across the finish line in the five-mile National Lottery Olympic Park Run in a personal best time of 29 minutes and 21 seconds.

With a marathon personal best time of 3:08:25, McAndrew was aiming for her first sub-three-hour marathon in the 2012 London Marathon: "2:59:59 I'd be ecstatic, but if I could get anything under 3:08 I've still got a personal best, which is still amazing, but it's just that kind of magic number of three hours ... I just want to get under that three hours." She went on to finish the race in 2:54:39, beating her previous personal best by 13 minutes and 46 seconds. Subsequently commentators Steve Cram and Brendan Foster noted that only 88 British women had run a sub-3-hour marathon during 2011. It was 47th fastest time by a British woman that year and the 9th fastest by a British woman over 35.

On 11 September 2016, she took part in the Great North Run to raise funds for Alzheimer's Society and Cancer Research UK.

† – half marathon ‡ – 5-mile race ¥ – of the 13,064 women who completed the race McAndrew finished 46th

Personal life

After announcing their engagement in September 2004, McAndrew married property developer Paul Hardcastle twice: first in November 2004 in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, then again at a marriage blessing in December 2004 in Dubai. McAndrew and her husband have a son, Devon, born on 24 August 2006.

In March 2009 she revealed that she was still breastfeeding her son, and talked about the criticisms she was receiving for this practice.

McAndrew gave birth to a second child, a daughter, in March 2013.

Charitable activity McAndrew has supported a range of charities including Breast cancer awareness, Help the Aged, the British Heart Foundation, DEBRA, Cancer Research UK, the Lymphoma Association and SSAFA. She is also a Vice president of the Leeds Rugby Foundation charity.

Launching the Cancer Research UK Race for Life 2008 in London's Regent's Park, she joined a group of other women whose training outfits were painted on their bodies.

McAndrew ran for the Alzheimer's Society in the Bupa Great North Run in Newcastle in September 2010. In March 2012 she set a personal best half marathon time of 1:21.54 whilst running for Cancer Research UK at the Bath Half Marathon.