London Marathon: Douglas firefighter ran 18 miles on broken foot

A camera on the finish line caught Mr Quayle (centre, blue vest) crossing while in pain

A firefighter who ran most of the London Marathon with a broken bone in his foot has said it was "three of the most uncomfortable hours" of his life.

Steven Quayle, from Douglas, suffered the break, along with a sprained hip and a calf muscle tear, when he trod on a bottle at about the eight-mile mark.

The 29-year-old said he was "in agony" but despite stopping for treatment, he managed to finish in under four hours.

"I was in pieces at the end and I just thought 'don't cry on TV'," he added.

Mr Quayle said he was "just unlucky" to have suffered the injuries

Mr Quayle had been aiming to finish the race in three hours, but said he was in "absolute agony" for at least half of the circuit.

"I was really excited to get going and I was absolutely flying," he said.

"At around eight miles in, I was on target to run three hours when I stood on a stray bottle.

"I was in absolute agony but I carried on - I literally felt my hip pop and that pain got worse and worse."

Mr Quayle hobbled across the line in three hours 57 minutes

He said he could barely move by the 16-mile marker and had to seek treatment from a physio, but decided to continue.

"I was going through three of the most uncomfortable hours of my life," he said.

"Most of the way around, people were discarding bottles side and they have a constant clean-up crew, so I was just unlucky.

"I was in pieces at the end and I just thought 'don't cry on TV and get to the doctors tent - your flight home is in four hours'."

He said he eventually hobbled over the line in three hours 57 minutes, shortly after a runner dressed as Big Ben completed the race.