Harriers out in force on marathon duties

THE runners of Rochdale Harriers were out in force at the UK's two biggest marathons on Sunday 27th April with 25 club members taking on the physical and mental challenge of 26.2 miles.

- DAVE PARTON

The London Marathon is one of the Big 6 Marathons, where the world's elite runners share the same streets as enthusiastic amateurs, with thousands of spectators lining the streets to cheer on participants along the famous route which takes participants through the heart of London, passing the historic landmarks of the Tower of London, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace.

Representing Rochdale amongst the 56,000, record-setting, runners in the capital were David Bentley, who clocked 3:38:05, Abdul Wadud with 3:58:26, Jennie Ransome at 4:09:51, Ian Stainthorpe 4:42:07, Kay Bentley 4:57:39 and Sadaf Saeed 5:11:38.

Closer to home, the consistently growing Manchester Marathon also took place on Sunday, attracting over 25,000 runners and thousands of spectators to the City centre.