I ran the London Marathon 45 times but now it is time to rest

Mac Speake had taken part in every London Marathon since the event started in 1981 [BBC] Veteran runner Mac Speake had always known the day would come when he would need to quit, but that did not make it any easier. One week ago, the 84-year-old lined up at the start of the London Marathon as the eldest of six men in a very special club. The so-called Ever Presents have taken part in the famous event every year since it started in 1981.

"It's been a huge part of my life," he says, speaking from his home in Kettlebaston, Suffolk. "Nobody else can ever join the club and none of us have ever wanted to leave it. " The Ever Presents are (left to right) Jeffrey Aston, David Walker, Chris Finill, Michael Peace, Bill O'Connor, with Mac Speake (far right) [contributed] The last few of his 45 London Marathons have been tough for Mac and he started to worry about the impact it was having on his family.

Last year, the retired GP's wife Ros and their daughter had to almost carry him across the finish line. He finished in nine hours and 14 minutes, half-an-hour quicker than the previous year - a race Mac went into with a bad back and which he describes as "catastrophic". It was a far cry from his glory days of finishing in less than three hours, but it still meant a lot to take part, he says.

Mac's wife, Ros, says she would never have stopped her husband, pictured with his medal last year, from running the marathon [John Fairhall/BBC] Mac has "the greatest memories" from his marathons, with his personal best of two hours and 44 minutes achieved in 1983. Ros has been to support him every year, apart from one, when she had a stroke. Mac recalls their four children hanging off the gates of Buckingham Palace during the first event in 1981, when just 6,500 runners took part, compared to 59,000 this year.