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The London Marathon is a joyous occasion for countless participants, as thousands take to the capital's streets to raise funds for worthy causes and test their physical limits. But in 2018, tragedy struck when a former MasterChef contestant died after collapsing during the race.

The 2018 edition was the hottest on record at the time, held in sweltering 24-degree heat. Matt Campbell and Tom Peters, who met on MasterChef: The Professionals in 2017, were both participating. At the 22.5-mile mark, Campbell collapsed, and despite receiving medical treatment at the scene, he later died in hospital aged 29. Peters recounted the devastating events of that day in an interview following the incident.

"When we finished, I thought it was quite strange that I hadn't heard anything from him, because we were planning to meet up at the finish and go somewhere to grab food together," Peters told Sky News.

"I just put it down to the fact that all the mobile phone signals and stuff had jammed because there was so many people. I left it an hour or so before I started calling him again and again but I never got through. I thought that because the conditions of the day were very tough he might not have been feeling too well.

"Matt was a very talented runner and I knew he was trying to complete the marathon in less than three hours. I thought maybe he'd taken it a bit too hard and was suffering from dehydration or something. After the race I went back to my house in Canada Water in London and got myself ready to go and meet some friends. It was then that I received a call from his brother.

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"He told me Matt had suffered a heart attack and hadn't made it through. I was in complete disbelief, I could not process what he told me at all. It didn't seem real, it doesn't seem real now. He had so much going for him, so much planned, we had so much planned together. It didn't seem real at all. I'm still in disbelief really. It's so sad.

"Matt's inspiration was very infectious, whether that was with cooking on MasterChef, his interest in nutrition, or his social media presence with his running. He has inspired so many different types of people."

Campbell had been running the marathon in aid of the Brathay Trust. His JustGiving page was inundated with thousands of donations, raising in excess of £350,000. Peters, together with fellow contestant Jamie Park, co-organised a symbolic run to complete the final 3.7 miles of the marathon that Matt had been unable to finish.

The pair opened the event to the public the following Sunday, inviting people to walk or run the remaining distance. Across the UK, many others also ran 3.7 miles in tribute to Campbell.