Runner to miss London Marathon to watch Sky Blues trophy lift

A woman who has spent the past year training for Sunday's London Marathon has pulled out of the event so she can watch Coventry City lift the Championship trophy.

Hayley Finlay had been due to take part in the 26.2 mile (42.2km) race to celebrate her 50th birthday, but said she had decided she needed to be at the Coventry Building Society (CBS) Arena to see the Sky Blues handed the Championship trophy instead.

She said: "It was a no-brainer. I had a ballot entry to the race which means I can defer my place to next year's race."

Coventry City will be presented with the trophy on Sunday after their last home game of the season, against Wrexham.

Originally, the Sky Blues were due to play on Saturday, which meant Finlay would have gone to the match and then driven to London, along with her husband Danny, her sister and brother-in-law for the marathon.

But the game was moved for TV, meaning that instead of a 15:00 BST kick-off on Saturday, it is now a lunchtime start on Sunday.

Pulling out of this weekend's run around the streets of the capital also means that friends do not have to choose between football and supporting her in London.

"My mind would have been back at the CBS and so would most of my friends and family, so there was no pressure from anyone," she said.

Finlay had earmarked the marathon to celebrate her birthday, 10 years after running the New York Marathon for her 40th.

The 50-year-old is a season ticket holder at Coventry City and has been following the team since she was a young girl.

"I was at Highfield Road the day we got the news through that we'd been relegated and the atmosphere of the past few games have been almost in that celebration mood.

She added that the atmosphere after the win over Portsmouth had been "absolutely magical".

"I can only imagine what it'll be like on Sunday," she said.

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