The hard training of 12 members of Farnham Runners paid off when they ran the London Marathon on Sunday.

Most also found time to enlist sponsors and they raised over £7,000 between them.

The rain held off until later in the day and conditions were good for long-distance running, although it became windy in the later stages.

Andy Green, running his last marathon in the senior category, was rewarded for his dedicated build-up with a superb time of 2hrs 54mins 10secs and was placed an impressive 545th out of 32,000 finishers. He also raised £500 for the Bell's Piece Cheshire Home.

Veteran Chris Jackson's time of 3-01-48 and 1,078th position was all the more remarkable, coming only two weeks after he had recorded 3-07-55 in the Paris Marathon.

Vince Crowley ran his first marathon as a veteran and although not reaching his usual sub-3 hour time, ran well for 3-05-55 and 1332nd place.

Jane Georghiou enjoyed starting the race for the second year among the championship and elite lady runners at 9 am. Again, she justified her status with a time of 3hrs 12mins 14secs and was an outstanding 119th in the ladies' race.

Margery Wakefield was one of five Farnham Runners entering the 'London' for the first time.

Full of trepidation beforehand, Margery described it as "an unbelievable experience." She will always remember the cheering of hundreds of people lining Tower Bridge.

Despite aching legs in the last miles, the crowd willed her along to finish in a time of 5-35-14.

With the help of the Oddfellows Male Voice Choir, for whom she is accompanist, she raised £3,000 for the Arthritis Research Campaign.

Lindsay Bamford, also inspired by the crowd, found further reserves of energy to sprint to the finish, when she realised that she could record an official time of under five hours. (4-59-26. Her efforts raised money for the Croft Ward at Epsom General Hospital.

Nicolette Overy's training went well and she was delighted to finish in 4-14-57, while raising funds for the Cleaford Christian Trust.

Jim Bosworth enjoyed his first attempt at the distance, despite the pain towards the end. He recorded 3-55-53 and his sponsorship goes to the Beacon Centre (Macmillan Nursing) at the Royal Surrey County Hospital.

An official time of 3-22-02 was an excellent first marathon attempt for James Cameron.

John Russell recorded a personal best time of 3-29-11 (with a 50sec delay to the start) in his second marathon. His £2,000 sponsorship is dedicated to RNIB.

The Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice will benefit from Terry Steadman's run. His watch recorded inside three and a half hours, although he was disappointed not to achieve this target officially (3-33-13).

Stuart Morgan was determined not to miss the experience of the race, but recent injuries denied him a fast time.