NINE Okehampton Running Club members travelled to London with family and friends to tackle the Virgin London Marathon last month.

The first club member home was Roger Voaden in 02:52:24 comfortably achieving a personal best marathon time and was the 559th runner to finish overall! Next to finish were Gavin Punchard in 02:57:28 and Bryan Friend in 03:07:55 also achieving personal bests, followed closely by Andy Vallance in 03:07:57.

Of the marathon first timers, Kirstin Phippard was the first over the finish line in 03:41:16 followed by Joanna Daniel in 03:55:52, Greg Miller in 04:07:55, Marilyn Cooper in 04:26:29 and Alan Luffingham in 04:29:12.

For many of the club's runners these personal achievements are fuelling the wish to take part in next year's London Marathon.

The club is now meeting on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30pm-7:30pm at Okehampton Football Club in Simmons Park.

New members of all abilities are always welcome.