THE London Marathon saw eight St Helens striders finally reach the end of their long training and taking on the 26.2 mile course. Weather conditions were near perfect and all Striders had a great run.

First Strider home was Claire Murphy who finished in a new PB of 3:23:11, followed shortly by Rachael Fishwick in a new PB of 3:29:07 accompanied by Gary Carney who crossed the line in the same time.

Finishing 18th in the Vet 65 category was John Lingard in 3:39:25, who was followed home by Kevin Monaghan in 3:42:52.

Putting in a great marathon debut was Ian Wright who finished in 4:00:53. Next home was fellow debutant Joanne Keogh who finished in 4:28:35.

Rounding off the pack nicely was Amanda Coogan, also tackling the marathon distance for the first time who completed in 5:00:53.

Meanwhile closer to home two Striders took on the Warrington Whitley 10km. Roger Haslett was first home in 44:16, with Nick Burn finishing in 49:54.

The week previous Striders spring racing season saw more than 20 members heading to Germany for the 34th Berlin Half Marathon.

Striders ran hard and several obtained personal bests on this world-class course.

Saturday, April 5 saw several Striders participating in the monthly Merseyvend 5k, hosted by Knowsley Harriers.

Pete Fairclough was first home in 19mins 13secs, PB, followed by Rachael Fishwick, 19mins 39secs, Brian Middleton, 19mins 54secs, Paul Demore, 20mins 21secs and Chris Falls, 20mins 58secs.

Pauline Horsfall, Cheryl Orrick, Louise Read, Charley Ward, Jo Jackson and Joanne Keogh all finished under 25 minutes.

Kevin Brennan and Donna Halsall took on the Manchester Marathon on Sunday. Kevin clocked 3hours 6mins, knocking 25 minutes off his last marathon, while Donna completed her first ever marathon in 4hours 16mins.

Chris Reid took part in the Blackpool marathon, smashing his PB and finishing in 3hours 13mins. David Navis and Debbie Hill completed the half marathon in 1hour 40mins and 2hours 24mins, respectively.