Sir Jim Ratcliffe completed the London Marathon in a time of four hours, 32 minutes and 52 seconds – before racing across the capital to Manchester United’s FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
The 71-year-old, who took a 25 per cent stake in his boyhood club at the turn of the year, achieved a personal best time over the distance.
Sir Ji Ratcliffe had an ice bath after completing the London Marathon and was late at Wembley
The Utd chief told BBC he was in a ‘rush’ to get to Wembley as they interviewed him afterwards
Sir Jim reiterated his desire to build a ‘Wembley of the North’ new stadium
SIR JIM RATCLIFFE declared he was in a “rush” after mistakenly thinking Manchester United had already kicked off at Wembley after he’d completed the London Marathon.
Ratcliffe then headed straight to Wembley from The Mall to watch the second half of the semi-final, with United’s match with Coventry starting at 3.30pm.
The elite men’s runners started the London Marathon at 10am, with the rest of the group following behind.
Ratcliffe, who started at just after 10am, is known as a keen athlete who enjoys a challenge – and raced against the clock twice in one day.
Mail Sport understands that the petrochemical billionaire’s targeted getting to the arch in time for the second-half of a game in which victory for United would set up a second Manchester derby final in a row after rivals City’s late 1-0 win over Chelsea yesterday at the same venue.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe completed the London Marathon, 42km, in four hours, 32 minutes and 52 seconds
Sir Jim Ratcliffe finished the London Marathon with an impressive time of 04:30:52
Ratcliffe then arrived at Wembley to watch the second half of the FA Cup semi-final
The INEOS CEO impressively placed 21169 in the race, 34th in his age category.
He started by completing his first 10 kilometres in one hour and one minute, and arrived at the half-way point in Wapping after two hours and twelve minutes.
Ratcliffe finished the race at approximately 2:30pm, an hour before kick-off in the FA Cup semi-final.
On a clear run, it would take around 35 minutes to drive the 12.1 miles from the shadows of Buckingham Palace to the famous arch.
The start line of the London Marathon on Sunday morning – 71-year-old Ratcliffe is hoping to beat his personal best time of four hours, 32 minutes
Wembley Stadium will host the FA Cup semi-final between Man United and Coventry
Ratcliffe was joined by United’s majority owners Joel and Avram Glazer at Wembley.
The Americans have been spotted in London in recent days and were attending a United match for the first time since Ratcliffe’s investment was ratified.
