Colchester wheelchair athlete Hadj Lahmarr suffered the ultimate frustration of every athlete when he was forced to pull out of the Flora London Marathon.
An injury to his thumb caused his physio and coach to withdraw him from Sunday's race to avoid any long-term damage.
"I was not happy, to say the least," said Lahmarr. "I wanted to give it a go but in the end had to listen to my coach Rick Warne. I have my Olympic trials to think about which are in June in Switzerland so I will continue to train for those."
The decision to pull out of the prestigious event was reluctantly made late on Saturday afternoon to avoid the expense of travelling to the capital for nothing.
"It's the first time an injury has stopped me from competing," said Lahmarr.
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