OTLEY’S Frank Beresford was delighted to finish in the top 100 in his first attempt at the London Marathon.

However, he was a little disappointed that he missed out on completing the course with a sub 2hrs 30min time.

He completed the course in 2hrs 33min and admitted he enjoyed the thrill of running alongside Paula Ratcliffe for the first four miles in her farewell race.

“It was amazing to be alongside her in the early stages. The crowds were amazing cheering her on and helping all the other athletes too.

“It was just a pity she couldn’t keep up with us for longer because it was great to run alongside somebody of her standing.”

The race, which was won by Eliud Kipchoge from Kenya in 2:04:42, proved a big challenge for the rapidly-improving Beresford.

“It was a stern test and I didn’t know what to expect,” added Beresford. “My legs were really aching and I had to ease up a little in the closing stages which cost me the chance to get under 2hrs 30min.

Beresford, who has taken a few days off from running to recover, will be tackling the Leeds Half Marathon next and plans to run more marathons in the future.

Beresford was joined by seven other members of Otley for the race. Tom Midgley shaved an incredible 15 minutes off his personal best with a time of 2:44:01,while Liam Dunne 2:46:12, Ross Armstrong 3:09:19, Richard Clarke 3:18:38, Ian Broadbent 4:13:59, Andrew Rayner 4:17:46 and finally Sara Richard 4:26:45, all ran well.

Seven Ilkley Harriers made the trip to the capital. Sally Malir was fourth in her class with a time of 3:07:36, a new club record for FV50 and also beating her own club F45 record from last year’s event by two minutes. Michael Duffield, Tim Buckingham and David Howe also finished inside four hours.

Results: (1 Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya 2:04:42), 2656 Sally Malir 3:07:36, 5308 Michael Duffield 3:25:52, 6089 Tim Buckingham 3:29:23, 11032 David Howe 3:51:00, 20711 William Woodhead 4:26:44, 26819 Julie Elmes 4:51:00, 34451 Abigail Bailey 5:46:58, 37,675 finished.

A record number of six Airecentre Pacers took to the streets of London. Dave Stoneman improved his personal best again clocking 2:45:00 to guarantee his place for next year.

Veteran Richard Clarke also achieved another “good for age “ time in 3:18:00.

Vince Murphy finished in 3:54:00 whilst husband and wife Andrew and Jane Tesseyman clocked 4:34:00 and 5:05:00 respectively with Duncan Kilby completing the course in 5:38:00.

Ilkley’s Philip and Alex Hirst ran the Big Sur International Marathon in California. In constant sun and with stunning scenery along the Pacific coast, the race included head winds and brutal hills. Alex finished 73rd out of 4,299 in 3:17:17 and Philip 759th in 3:59:27.

Jack Wood continued his winning ways with first runner at the Dick Hudson fell race on Ilkley Moor. Dave Wilby finished closely behind Jack on a mountain bike and Alex Sinclair also made the top ten on foot.

Results: (1 Bob Addey, on a bike 42:07), 2 Jack Wood equalled record 46:25, (4 Dave Wilby, bike) 46:59, 7 Alex Sinclair 49:15, 16 David Chandler 57:24, 18 Duncan Cooper 58:15, 29 Paddy Hagan 61:57, 32 Mike Baldwin 62:39, 33 Will Worboys 62:41, 36 Paul Stephens 64:37, 46 Sarah Hayes 69:00, 51 Keith Wood 73;14, 52 Rose Hagan 73:26, 57 Sheena Pikersgill 82:53, 60 Rachel Hagan 85:30, 61 finished