Adele Roberts breaks a World Record at the London Marathon
Congrats to Adele! You're a superstar!
Adele Roberts has amazed us once again by breaking a world record at Sunday’s (23 April) London Marathon.
Roberts, 44, was running the marathon to raise money for the Attitude Magazine Foundation (AMF), which in turn raises money for LGBTQ causes.
On Sunday the Attitude Award winner finished the marathon – her third – in a record time of 3:30:22. She now holds the record for the fastest marathon run with an ileostomy.
Roberts was met at the finish line by representatives from the Guinness World Records. Sharing images of the moment on Instagram Roberts said: “Anything is possible.”
Speaking exclusively to Attitude after the run Roberts said it was “beautiful,” and “tough.”
Roberts, who was diagnosed with Bowel cancer in 2021, ran the marathon 12 months since finishing chemotherapy. Last summer she was given the all clear.
Roberts was also given a stoma after having surgery to remove a tumour.
“I love sport, but I didn’t know that sport was for me”
Reflecting on her journey, Roberts told Attitude she initially thought the marathon couldn’t be done. She was glad to have proven otherwise.
“That’s the message that I want to give to anybody that maybe is going to be coming ostomate – it doesn’t stop you living your life. You can still live a full life and you can still do things like marathons and we proved that today.”
Relieved to have achieved her goal of breaking the world record, Adele, who is one of Nissan’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ambassadors, said she was also happy to have helped promote greater inclusivity in sport.
“It just makes me feel so proud to be able to help change the world and be the change really, that I needed to see when I was younger.
“It makes me so happy when I see inclusive flags flying at sport events. I didn’t see that when I was little. I love sport, but I didn’t know that sport was for me.”
A recent study of 1,000 LGBTQ people by OnePoll, found that 34% experienced homophobic or transphobic abuse while at a live sporting event.
Meanwhile, 40% of people felt unwelcomed at live sporting events due to their gender or sexuality.
The survey also found that 38% who have taken part in a team game experienced abuse from their own team. 54% saw someone else being abused.
“It felt like I was there with my family”
As a result, Nissan provided inclusive cheer zones around the marathon route, creating safe spaces for all fans.
Adele who attended ‘Rainbow Row’ at last year’s London Marathon said she was looking forward to getting to both cheer zones.
“When you run through the cheer zone, it feels like home, and that’s how it felt. It felt like I was there with my family.”
Roberts was also raising money for the AMF. At the time of writing she had raised more than £8,700.
After a recent visit to the London-based HIV charity, Postive East, which has had support from the AMF, Roberts encouraged people to donate.
“After coming through bowel cancer, I know how important it is to support charities and the great work that they can do.
“I’ve had so many people help me and my family. And when you give that money, it really does make a difference. It changes and it saves lives.”
Congrats to Adele! You’re a superstar!