Capital efforts by Wymondham runners

TEN members of Wymondham AC were amongst the 40,000 competitors in Sunday's London Marathon.

The beautiful spring sunshine and high temperature, although ideal for the spectators, made it hard for the runners, but the fantastic support from the crowds along the 26.2 mile route was a great help for the competitors.

Experienced marathon runner Roger Beardmore led the WAC runners home in a time of 3-11:48, slightly improving on his time from last year.

Neil Popworth, competing in his first marathon, followed in 3-23:50 and is already planning on how to improve on that time.

Eddie Greenland, running the London Marathon for the fourth time, was unable to improve his time from previous years, finishing in 3-37:47.

A further WAC member who reached the finish line inside the four-hour mark was Dale Cooper in 3-58:12.

The Wymondham ladies were led home by first-time marathon runner Tracy Stevens in 4-03:30.

Angie Bear, Jules Kennelly and Lucy Perry followed closely packed in 4-20:22, 4-22:31 and 4-23:21 respectively. Although finishing within minutes they did not actually see each other amongst the thousands of runners.

Experienced marathon runner Angie was pounding London streets for the eighth time, whilst it was the first time for Jules. Lucy had a good run and was the only WAC member who improved on her time from last year.

Caroline Carr, running London for the second time, was disappointed with her time of 5-04:30 but was still placed well ahead of WAC's final runner Wendy Larke who reached the finish line in 6-00:50.

After endless winter nights pounding the streets of Wymondham in preparation for the big day, all WAC runners found it hard to cope with the warm temperature, but the amazing support from the crowds and the knowledge of raising funds for good causes kept them going.