ALL the participating runners from Tavistock and the Bere peninsula were celebrating after completing the Flora London Marathon on Sunday. After a bright start, heavy rain drenched the runners from mid-morning but did not prevent them from finishing. There were five members of Tavistock Athletic Club taking part and Tony Symons led them home with a time of 3hrs 05mins 48secs, coming a creditable 190th in his age group. Paul Marshall finished in 3hrs 41mins 42secs. Fiona Dunn was the first woman member home in 3hrs 56mins 07secs. Steven John and Colin Eves completed the course in 4hrs 09mins 10secs and 4hrs 19mins 48secs respectively. Four members of Bere Alston Trekkers joined the runners, with Laurence Sargeant completing the distance in 3hrs 28mins 08secs, coming an impressive 102nd in his age group. Sam Gadd, Pam Adams and Mary Sargeant all finished in times within ten minutes of one another, taking between 4hrs 14mins 53secs and 4hrs 24mins 10secs, with Pam finishing just three minutes slower than Sam. Mary Sargeant finished 30th in her age group. More than 34,000 runners completed the 26.2 mile course including Masai warriors and fun runners dressed in various apparel. The runners left Greenwich Park on their way east past Woolwich Royal Artillery barracks before winding back to cross the river at Tower Bridge. The course took them around Docklands to the City before they finally finished on the Mall. The race route was changed slightly at Canary Wharf because of a gas leak — adding two metres to the overall distance.
