NINETEEN Spa Striders took on the hottest London Marathon on record and put in some gutsy performances in gruelling conditions on Sunday.
Chris McKeown was the first Strider home in 3:05:38, only two weeks after an excellent performance at Paris Marathon.
Adam Notley (3:14:19) ran strongly, battling through the final 10km.
Rob Thompson (3:29:38) and Steve Taylor (3:34:11) took measured approaches in the heat which paid off on the day.
Paul Edwards (3:43:18) did brilliantly to stay on the course, having suffered severely from the heat around half-way.
Debut marathoners Ben Cohen (4:21:17) and Kevin Baskerville (5:43:16) used the mental determination developed on long winter-training runs to complete the iconic endurance challenge.
Laura Peake was the first female Strider, finishing in 3:30:27, followed by Bethan Gwynn (3:35:41) and Kate Gadsby (3:41:15).
Seasoned marathoners Carolyn Wilkinson (3:44:39) and Sue Cox (3:46:29) called on all their reserves to tough-out the race and, along with Anne Hurrell (3:48:10), finished within ‘good for age’ standards.
Debutante Lucy Marcovitch (4:30:47) paced her marathon effort brilliantly.
Ruth Tennant (4:35:22) found the heat particularly challenging but joined Frances Parkes (4:37:18), Lisa Edgerton (5:35:52), Tanya Britain (5:37:17) and Hazel Mann (5:47:19) as proud London Marathon finishers.
In Spain, Carlos De Lucas completed his debut marathon in Madrid in 3:31. Clare Bryan also faced unfamiliar high temperatures and completed the Antwerp marathon in 4:08.
Another 19-strong contingent headed to Edmonscote track to the Leamington C&AC-hosted Monty 5k on Sunday.
Simon Parsons was first Strider in 18:52, followed by Keith Wilson (19:15), Dan Fleming (19:18), Chris Wilson (19:50), Tim Beresford (19:57), Rob Mantell (20:29), Rob Egan (21:16), Paul Quinney (21:40), Ian Davis (21:52), Nadine Lee (21:52), Dawn Clark (22:29), Lucy Tugwell (23:33), Claudine Piper (24:00), James Civil (24:03), Jude Baum (25:13), Chris Jones (25:24), Sandra Stokes (25:35), Lorraine Parsons (25:53) and Natalie Dellar (28:34).
