Peterborough & Nene Valley AC's Ben Heron runs his best ever time at London Marathon

Ben Heron was at his very best in London.

A flying Ben Heron ran his fastest ever marathon on Sunday clocking a time of 2:27.31 to finish in 65th place on the packed streets of London.

The Peterborough & Nene Valley AC long distance specialist went through half way in 1:12.57, and only lost a small amount of time in the 2nd half. Heron took almost a minute off his previous best time of 2:28.27, which he set in London last year.

Bushfield's Martin Gichuhi had to nurse his hamstring through the latter stages of the race, but still made the top 300 with a time of 2:38.05.

Michael Channing-Phillips was the first Helpston Harrier home. Having finished high up the field in a time of 2:24.58 in 2019 Channing-Phillips raced this year without putting in anything like the level of training which he had in 2019. Despite this he still clocked a very respectable time of 2:48.15.

Yaxley's Danny Snipe easily made the top 1,000 finishers with a time of 2:50.38, his fastest marathon for five years.

A seecond Yaxley runner Michael Branston was delighted with his finishing time of 3:11.14 after expecting to run around 3:15.

Helpston's Nat Freeman clocked a time of 3:12.50.

Simon Nortcott of PANVAC went round in 3:19.55 while Eye Community runner Raffaele Mazzarella ran a 3:25.05 PB, finishing 48 seconds ahead of Bushfield's Stewart Rosella.

Marc Sampson was the first Werrington Jogger home with a time of 3:29.10. Simon Gilbey also of Werrington who went round in 3:44.24.

Three Yaxley ladies experienced differing fortunes and Kayleigh Longfoot led them home with a time of 3:41.18.

Abi Kefford went through half way in 1:34.34, only just outside her pace from 2015 when she ran a 3:07.05 PB.

The Yaxley Runner crossed the finish line desperately disappointed with her time of 3:48.03.

Kefford experienced breathing problems in the later stages, which led to her collapsing over the finish line as a result of an asthma attack.

Abi Branston, also of Yaxley wasn't far behind on her marathon debut. Running with an injury which she picked up in the run up to the race Branston eased her way round in a time of 3:53.42.

PANVAC's Daryll Coulter is to take a well deserved break from marathon running after completing his 150th race over the past 10 years. Coulter clocked a modest, by his standards time of 4:11.01.

Two of PANVAC's under 13's took part in the mini-marathon run over the last 2.6km of the full course on Saturday morning. Lewis Legge placed 13th in a time of 8:46 while Louie Hemmings finished 48th with a 9:21 clocking.Phil Martin suffered a rare marathon disappointment when competing for England Masters at Chester on Sunday.

The PANVAC man has been a consistent performer throughout his seven years of marathon running, but injury got the better of him at Chester and he was forced to walk parts of the 2nd half finishing in 3:15.31.

Peterborough & Nene Valley AC were the winning team in Sunday's West Pinchbeck 10k, with Luke Brown, Kirk Brawn and Steve Wilkinson coming in behind winner Sleaford Strider Alan Oliver.