AFTER months of hard training through the winter, seven runners from Grange Farm and Dunmow Runners (GFDR) made an early start on Sunday to take part in the Virgin London Marathon.
They joined the 37,000 runners at the start under ideal conditions - dry, sunny and relatively cool. The rain held off until they were safely in the pub, celebrating after the event.
Fastest for GFDR, in under four hours, were Jo Bisset-Smith in 3h 49min 42s and Hayley Smith in 3h 55min 17s.
Emma Pitcher was third in 4h 8min 26s.
Ian Baines, running his first marathon, finished in 4h 9min 36s, just ahead of Kath Birks in 4h 10min 17s.
Ian Lawson finished in 4h 13min 21s and John Smith in 4h 23min 5s.
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