Sussex runners take part in London Marathon

Runners from all over Sussex completed the Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday (April 22), raising money for a number of good causes.
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Pictures of some of these runners can be seen in our video slideshow.

Crawley AC runner and Hassocks FC player James Westlake managed to finish 27th in the marathon – a remarkable achievement considering more than 40,000 runners completed the course. Read more about James Westlake’s marathon story here.

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Elsewhere Chris Ashby from Polegate ran his first ever full marathon, achieving a time of 5 hours 18 minutes.

Kate OConnor and her mum Carole MulryKate OConnor and her mum Carole Mulry
Kate OConnor and her mum Carole Mulry

Tim Huxham from Up Marden, near Chichester, ran for Pancreatic Cancer Uk. He said: “I ran my first London Marathon to raise money for the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK in memory of my mother Jenny Huxham who died of Pancreatic Cancer in 2014 aged 58. Supported by my wife (Kelly Huxham) and my three daughters (Megan 8, Arabella 6, Georgina, 4) I crossed the finish line in 4:52.

“My aim was to raise £5,000 in mum’s (Jenny’s) memory, for the charity that helped her through her short and difficult illness, in the hope that one day her future generations will have a better chance than she did. Thanks to everyone’s generosity and sympathy with the gruelling heat on the day my total has topped £8,000.”

The London Marathon was Sarah Pedretti’s first ever marathon. The Bexhill resident chose to raise money for Marie Curie and local charity Chase the Dream, raising money for an SDR operation for ten year old Chase Wells. Sarah trained with a friend who also ran, Tony Carroll, also from Bexhill and running his first marathon.

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Kate O’Connor, from North Bersted, and her mum Carole Mulry, from Woodgate, took part, as did Chichester dad Mike Houston, who was cheered on by his wife and children.

The deputy head teacher from Maidenbower Junior School, Simon Pike, ran in aid of mental health charity MIND, completing the course in 4 hours 48 minutes.

Sacha Jackson ran to raise money for Little Gate Farm in Beckley, East Sussex.

Sara Spells, from Worthing, ran for Tommy’s in memory of her daughter Hope, raising £3,746.

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Bexhill resident Dan Foreman ran the London Marathon for Children with Cancer U.K. His original target was £1,000, but with the generosity of his family and friends he managed to raise nearly £2,000.

He said: “I honestly couldn’t of done it without all of my family, friends the thousands of supporters who lined the streets, the volunteers who handed out water, energy gels and shouted out words of encourage, The police were amazing as were the fireman who had set up a hoses outside of their fire stations to spray a light shower of cold water over the runners so that we could all cool down.

“Last but by no means least St Johns Ambulance... they were incredible and did such a great job at looking after everyone and anyone who needed it.”

Mark Gamlin, 43, from Eastbourne, ran for Cardiomyopathy UK in memory of the father of his close friend Sophie who lost her father to cardiomyopathy.

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Gina Leadbeatter, from Horsham, completed the marathon in five hours, 23 minutes. Celebrating ten years in remission from ovarian cancer, she raised thousands of pounds for CLIC Sargent. She said: “I cried like a baby from mile 25 to finish. It’s been an incredible journey and honour.”

Emma Dixon from Chichester ran to raise money for St Wilfrid’s Hospice, which provided fantastic end of life care for her Dad back in 2010.

Mike O’Connor, a nurse at St Catherine’s Hospice, was one of 40 supporters of the charity to take part in the marathon. He said training for the marathon was the first time he felt motivated since the death of his son. You can read more of Mike’s reason for taking part here.

Worthing sisters Sharon McHale, 47, and Katharine Smith, 50, aimed to raise £4,000 for Make-A-Wish Foundation UK. They ran in memory of Kevin Bushby, Katharine’s son, who lost his fight against cancer in November, 2001, at the age of 14. You can read more about Katherine’s fundraising story here.

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For new dad Chris Sloggett, a teacher at Felpham Community College, it was his tenth marathon, running this time to raise money for Love Your Hospital as a thank you for the life-saving care the special care baby unit at Worthing Hospital gave to his son. You can read more about Chris Sloggett’s story and what happened to his son by clicking here.

Keith Slattery, from Eastbourne, ran the marathon for Global’s Make Some Noise. It was his first marathon, completing it in four hours, 34 minutes. Keith is a senior assistant head at Beacon Community College in Crowbrough.

This year’s marathon, the 38th, was the biggest in history and by 7pm 40,255 had conquered the hottest race day on record to cross the finish line in The Mall and pick up their hard-earned medals and souvenir finishers’ T-shirts, beating last year’s record total by 768 runners.

Some 41,003 set off on the 26.2-mile journey from Blackheath to Westminster at 10am, sent on their way by Her Majesty The Queen, who pushed the event’s famous red button on her gleaming green lawn in front of Windsor Castle as a hooter sounded over the heads of the men’s elite field on the far side of London.

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Sir Mo Farah sealed his 10th British record to take third and a cherished spot on the celebrated London podium.

There were 34 Guinness World Records as runners cautiously braved temperatures of up to 24°C in all manner of fancy dress costumes.

If you would like to send in your London marathon picture, email [email protected], with the subject London Marathon. Please include your name, your hometown, and who you were running for.