A STRONG squad comprising of 17 East Cornwall Harriers travelled to the capital to compete in the 22nd London Marathon at the weekend.

The event attracted the largest numbers of competitors in its history with over 33,290 runners.

Weather conditions were near perfect for the event, which helped Khalid Khannouchi of the US win the race in a world record time 2hr 5min 38sec.

With encouragement at the start from East Cornwall Harriers ladies team captain Revis Crowle, Paula Radcliffe went on to run a magnificent race winning the ladies event in a time of 2:18.56.

Revis, competing against the elite lady runners, also excelled and went on to achieve a personal best time of 3:06 and will no doubt be looking to further close the gap between her and Paula at next year's event.

The ECH men's contingent was also out to impress the huge crowds that lined the 26.2 mile course.

Andy Gwillam ran a superb race finishing in a time of 2:45. Brian 'Whippet' Bilsborough was on top form and broke the three hour barrier to finish in a time of 2:56.

Men's team captain Mark Andrews ran close to his personal best to cross the finish line in a time of 3:12.

Graham Kirby after a conservation run in the event last year was keen to show his class to the world's media by storming through to a 3:14 finish.

Alan Green tipped by many to come close to a three hour finish ran a very strong race challenging Kirby for the lead right up to the 23-mile mark but then suffered from cramp which snatched away his true potential finishing time.

Nevertheless, Alan showed customary good form by finishing in 3:19.

Sharon Dawe, after recently returning to competitive running, has been carefully preparing for this event. Sharon's performance peaked at exactly the right time to achieve 3:21 on the day. This was a class performance for this strong runner.

John McKinley running in his first marathon, ran a good race, his thorough preparation paying off as he collected his medal in an excellent time of 3:27. This time is set to tumble when John competes in the New York Marathon later this year.

Martin Eddy was hot on his heels finishing only 43 seconds behind having run a splendid race.

Martin who went on a high protein diet in preparing for London clearly judged his intake to perfection to achieve this very impressive result.

Jeremy Bennett ran a blinding race to finish in a time of 3:34 beating may thousands of other competitors to The Mall.

Marc Lintern, better known for his footballing skills, launched himself on to the international running stage with a cracking run completing the course in a time of 3:35.

This was also Marc's debut at the London Marathon and was a notable achievement at this early stage of his running career. Marc confided that part of his success must be put down to his dexterity with a razor the night before in shaving his normally hirsuit torso to reduce wind resistance.

Further success came in the form of Paul Pattison who ran a confident race completing the distance in 3:59.

Paul is already planning to improve this creditable performance and is looking forward to his next big event.

Kevin Williams, no stranger to international competition and with many good results in the lead up to London, was unable to fulfil his potential on the day having 'hit the wall' towards the latter stage of the marathon, finishing in just over four hours. Kevin will now be focusing his energies on the New York Marathon in the autumn.

Alison Martin trained well for the race an successfully achieved this big challenge accompanied by a friend. Alan Smith, who did the Taunton Marathon six days beforehand, went on to complete the London Marathon in a time of approx 4:19. This would be a remarkable achievement for any athlete and is especially so for this veteran London Marathon runner. Alan thoroughly enjoyed the race having run the event with his son.

Hilda McKinley wasn't quite able to match the pace of her 'action man' husband but did climb her own personal mountain by completing this gruelling event in style.

This was Hilda's first marathon and her initial reaction afterwards was that it will be her last. Her team mates recognise her great achievement and will be egging Hilda on for the London Marathon 2003.

As a complete antidote to the London Marathon, Carol Pollard and Anton Luiton represented the Harriers at the Tresco Marathon on the Isles of Scilly.

Nearly 100 runners from all over the country took part in what must be one of the most scenic of marathons.

The course comprised seven and a half laps around the island and included several undulating sections.

The concrete surface of the course and the number of circuits made this a tough marathon.

Carol, who had been training hard over the winter months, was rewarded with a finishing time of 4:16.

Anton crossed the line in 4:35 having suffered cramp over the last ten miles of the race. Club coach, Mike Erith and men's captain Mark Andrews, in puzzling over the results, were unsure as to whether Anton's cramp was due to dehydration on the day or an excess of fluid intake the night before.

Both Carol and Anton enjoyed the race and raised considerable sponsorship for their charities.