MIKE Smith had the run of his life in Sunday's London Marathon when he crossed the line a fantastic 27th overall in a time of two hours 28 minutes and 36 seconds.

While other runners were struggling in the exceptionally hot conditions, Bourton Roadrunner Smith just seemed to thrive on the extra challenge.

Next in was Alistair Lockey in a personal best time of 2.41.00 despite suffering in the final stages.

Dennis Walmsley was hampered by hip problems but still recorded a time of 2.46.17, while Ian McDougall scraped under three hours (2.58.13) after stopping to have his feet bandaged.

Nick Worboys, on his debut marathon, clocked a fabulous 3.01.04 and was strong until the last mile when the heat really got to him but sheer guts dragged him on.

Andy Chappell (3.07.50) recorded an excellent time in his first marathon, Alan Lettice knocked two minutes off his previous pb when recording 3.35.31, while Andy Green performed well to finish in 3.43.09.

Bourton's first lady home, Julia Rutherford, matched her previous marathon time, but in such gruelling conditions, it should be considered a greater achievement to record 3.51.18.

First timers Andy Stanley and Simon Rutherford beat their fear of the unknown, achieving great times of 4.18.11 and 4.24.48.

Lynn Hudson found the going tough in her second marathon but still managed to complete in 4.27.36.

Old hands John Gibson and Gill Wilkie know how to dig in when the going gets hard and did just that, recording times of 4.49.14 and 5.08.03.