Brave Wendy clocks good marathon time

Wendy has retinitis pigmentosa, meaning she has only tunnel vision. She overcame her condition to leave her escort, Mike Monk, behind when he developed cramp in both legs just after 14 miles.

Office worker Wendy (45), of West Meads, managed to avoid the other runners in the 36,000-strong field in spite of her limited sight to complete the 26.2-mile course in a creditable 4hrs 38mins.

Mike went on to cross the finishing line in 5hrs 7mins.

They were among 15 members of the Tone Zone Runners, based at the Arun Leisure Centre, who took part in the annual event. Temperatures up to 21C at midday equalled the hottest conditions for the race.

Andy Grout overcame the heat to record a personal best in 4hrs 54mins. But the heat played havoc with the ambitions of most of the other runners.

Karen Harrison was again the Tone Zone Runners' fatest woman with a good time of 3hrs 34mins given the conditions.

Mike Monk said: 'As usual, the large supporting crowds and the charities did their best to encourage everyone who was running under quite difficult conditions.

'Apart from actually finishing this world-famous race, most runners were raising money for charity and, in total, many thousands of pounds have been raised thanks to the generosity of local people.'

The full list of Tone Zone Runners' results is: Karen Harrison 3:34:55, Lorraine Treadwell 3:50:19, Simon Gilbert 3:52:58, Ian Bayley 4:01:33, Jackie Grout 4:12:30, Brian Etheridge 4:36:04, Wendy Harding 4:38:57, Carol Grout 4:41:45, Andy Grout 4:54:26, Jackie Annals 4:55.47, Michelle Etheridge 5:05:21, Mike Monk5:07:31, Mark Annals 5:09:31, Laura Booth 5:47:52, Sarah Spurr 6:09:51.

Felpham runner, Stuart Ward, also took the sensible option and paced himself because of the heat to finish the London Marathon in 4hrs 30mins.

Felpham mum of five Jacqueline Hooton (44) and friend Simon Wagstaff raised more than 5,700 for charity in the London Marathon.

Jacqueline (44) and 48-year-old Simon, who both belong to the Westergate-based Sixth Dimension club, took on the challenge of the race to benefit the CLIC Sargent children's cancer charity.

'Raising funds for CLIC Sargent was really important to me as they are working hard to support my friends' son, Matt, who has leukaemia,' explained Jacqueline.

The couple battled temperatures which equalled the 1996 record for the hottest London Marathon. Showers along the course and plenty of water stations made the conditions more bearable for the runners.

Jacqueline and Simon finished in five hours. Simon said: 'We had trained for a four-and-a-half hour time but had to adjust our pace to take into account the sweltering temperatures.'

This was Simon's second London Marathon and the first for Jacqueline. But she is already thinking about the next one.

'The day was truly amazing, an awesome experience.' she stated. 'I enjoyed every minute of it and I would like to take part again.

'I don't think I have ever heard so many people calling out my name. At one point, we passed a disco playing the Village People's YMCA and everyone joined in with the actions.

'When we passed a church, the priest came out and blessed us with holy water.'