Matt Campbell, aged 29, a professional chef from the Lake District, has died after collapsing in Sunday’s London Marathon.
The 29-year-old was running his first London marathon for the Brathay Trust, a charity that inspires vulnerable young people to make positive changes in their lives, yet was a keen and talented athlete who ran under three hours at the Manchester marathon earlier this month.
No cause of death has yet been announced.
London marathon race director Hugh Brasher paid tribute to Campbell, but said it was unwise to speculate on whether the high temperatures – which reached 24c (75F) during Sunday’s race – had been a factor in his death.
“In historical terms, I believe in 38 editions of the event we have had over one million finishers and sadly there have been 14 deaths,” Brasher said. “It is unusual and always tragic when it happens. There will be an autopsy so we can’t – and we shouldn’t – speculate about what should happen next. All we should say is that our thoughts are with Matt’s family and friends.
“He was a good runner. He had run sub-three hours at the Manchester marathon, but he collapsed around the 22.5-mile mark. He did receive immediate medical attention but unfortunately he did pass away and our thoughts do go to his family and friends at this sad time.”
Campbell had aimed to raise £2,500 for the Brathay Trust, where his father worked until he died suddenly in 2016. By early Tuesday morning, more than £77,000 had been donated on his JustGiving page, which was deluged with hundreds of condolence messages.
Campbell began his career working in Michelin-starred kitchens, including L’Enclume in his native Cumbria, and finished second on BBC Young Chef of the Year when he was just 20. He then spent the next eight years travelling the world and became a private chef working for VIPs.
On his website he talks of working in private villas along the Cote d’Azur and luxury ski chalets in the Alps. He also backpacked around Peru and created pop-up restaurants in Belize to pay for his accommodation. “I’m proud I didn’t take the traditional route that my career hinted towards in the beginning,” he wrote.
He returned to the UK and last year he made it through to the semi-finals of MasterChef: The Professionals. “The competition turned out to be the perfect platform for me to showcase my unique training and experiences. I combined my two passions for nutrition and gastronomy, with Marcus Wareing describing my signature dish of ‘cod cheeks, spirulina, kale & kombucha’ as the best he’s ever tasted on Masterchef,” wrote Campbell.
Guardian restaurant critic Grace Dent, for whom Campbell cooked while she was a judge on Masterchef and he a contestant, wrote before his death that he was a “chef with a certain level of swagger”.
In an article for the Observer published on Sunday morning, Dent praised him for embracing veganism in his recipes. “Chefs such as Campbell are brave and exciting to me because to even pepper a menu with the term ‘vegan’ is to bang up against decades of culinary prejudice. This is a word synonymous with worthy, difficult diners and glee-free abstinence,” she wrote.
After news of his death broke, she wrote on Twitter: “Brilliant, clever, funny, incredibly talented Matt. This is unfathomable.”
Campbell’s fellow Masterchef contestant, Jamie Park, wrote on Instagram: “Like so many others that were lucky enough to meet [Campbell], I feel like I have lost a great friend and inspiration, words cannot describe how sad this is. He took his love and energy for life and food everywhere. We truly have lost a star.”
The Michelin-starred chef and Masterchef judge, Marcus Wareing, tweeted: “It is with huge sadness that I received the news of Matt Campbell’s untimely death earlier today (Monday). He was a talented, innovative and driven chef with a bright future ahead of him”
Campbell’s love of running had been inspired by his father, whose death had had a significant effect on him. “As many of you know, I lost my father Martin 18 months ago suddenly,” he had written. “The past year and a half have been the toughest of my life but his spirit and energy live on in me.”
“He was the most inspirational man in my life and was the one who said ‘Go on, why don’t you give it a go? I know you can do it!’ and entered me into my first marathon,” he went on. “It was maybe the proudest day of my life standing at the finish line having achieved something I never imagined possible with my dad and my brother by my side.”
The Brathay Trust said in a statement that it was “devastated” by the news of Campbell’s death. “Matt and his family have been tireless in supporting the work of Brathay Trust and our thoughts and prayers are with them at this terrible time.”
The last death at the race came in 2016, when Afghanistan veteran David Seath had a cardiac arrest three miles short of the finish, close to Southwark Bridge.
In a statement, London marathon organisers said: “No further details will be released and the family has asked for privacy. The exact cause of death will be established by later medical examination.”
