Runners feel great after 26 miles (From Witney Gazette)

Runners feel great after 26 miles

9:00am Tuesday 25th April 2006 in Witney By The Page Turner

RUNNERS from West Oxfordshire raised funds for charity in Sunday's London Marathon.

They were among the 40,000 runners, aged from 18 to their 80s, who braved damp weather to complete the 26-mile course, which started at Blackheath and ended in the Mall.

Rachel Simpkins, 26, from Witney, took part in her first marathon, in memory of a school friend, who died last year, and completed the run in five hours and 14 minutes.

Miss Simpkins, of Pensclose, was running the marathon in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, because her friend Catherine Griffiths, of Eynsham, died of the genetic disorder, aged 26.

Miss Simpkins, a midwife at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, has been running up to five times a week to prepare for the big day.

She said afterwards: "I feel a bit sore, but I'm OK, and I am very pleased with what I have achieved.

"It was very hard going after 16 miles, but after that, I got dragged along on adrenaline.

"My parents are chauffeuring me home, and I'm looking forward to a very long bath."

Samantha Sole, 40, of The Green, Leafield, was hoping to raise £1,000 for the Meningitis Trust, after completing the run in five hours and 45 minutes.

Her daughter, Maddie, suffered meningitis aged seven weeks, but made a full recovery from the illness.

Mrs Sole said: "I completed the course slowly, but surely.

"I didn't go round very quickly, but I didn't hit any kind of 'wall', and I didn't get injured, so I'm very pleased with my first marathon.

"The crowd was fantastic, and everyone was very supportive."