Athletics: Michael Watson: 26 miles and 385 yards of pure courage

Injured boxer sets new record for the slowest marathon time. Andrew Johnson reports

Six days, two hours, 26 minutes and 18 seconds after setting off in the London Marathon, contestant 60199 finally pulled himself over the finishing line yesterday.

He set a new world record for the slowest time for the 26 mile 385 yard course, but this was a performance that could never be judged by a clock. The achievement of the brain-damaged and partially paralysed Michael Watson is one of the few in sport that can truly be called heroic.

There to hold the finishing tape was Chris Eubank, whose flurry of punches in a boxing match 12 years ago left Watson in a coma. There also was Peter Hamlyn, a neurosurgeon at the St Bartholomew and Royal London Hospital, who has supervised and inspired Watson's recovery from a near-vegetative state to marathon hero.

"When he came to us, for a month we were worried he might not live," said Mr Hamlyn. "Then we worried he might not be able to talk or to walk, or have any quality of life. He couldn't walk across a living room five months ago. I had serious fears that the challenge would be too much for him. But he is an athlete, and athletes work at the limits of their ability."

In the 12 years up to Christmas, Watson, battling with paralysis down his left side, had got as far as being able to stand and shuffle a few steps unaided. Then he decided to take on the marathon, to "improve his walking" and raise thousands of pounds for the Brain and Spine Foundation.

He set off last Sunday with the other thousands of entrants and walked for two hours – at a little more than a mile an hour – before resting for two hours and covering another two miles in the afternoon. Yesterday, he did the final two-mile stretch, finishing in the Mall.

He walks with a swaggering gait that pivots around his right foot – his right side strides forward almost normally, pulling his reluctant left side – torso, arm, leg – after him. As he tires, his left foot barely clears the ground.

Yesterday he chatted and joked with Eubank and his supporters. When a chant of "There's only one Michael Watson" died down, Watson began it again. "I love it," he said. But there were moments with no banter, just Watson locked in silent concentration, as passing cars – and a fire engine – honked their support.

For the final few yards he walked alone, throwing punches and pointing his good right hand skyward in jubilation. "I'm very tired," he said. "But I never had any doubts. I feel good. I enjoyed myself from the beginning."

Four minutes after Watson crossed the finish line, Alex Robinson, 14, from Suffolk, followed. Alex, who suffered similar injures to Watson in a road accident, could barely walk a few yards on Monday. But inspired by Watson he walked three days with him. "He might do the full course next year," said his dad Glenn.