HALSTEAD Road Runners members were among those tackling the hottest-ever London Marathon.

The heat made it brutal for those who had been training hard through the cold winter months and plans for personal bests were replaced by those to stay hydrated and make it to the finish line in one piece.

First to the finish for the Road Runners was James Smith in 2:53:59 and he was happy to keep his London time consistently under three hours.

Gavin Allen was also pleased with his performance and could be seen on the television coverage heading into the final turn to finish in 2:56:03.

Tom Porter and Stuart Prestney put in solid performances in 3:26:08 and 3:30:29 respectively.

Rachael Roughan missed out on a hoped-for good for age time but still managed a great personal best in 3:49:31 and Stuart Ashworth, raising money for the Children’s Society, had a memorable first marathon after finishing in 4:07:07.

Megan Hollinshead also managed to run an amazing personal best of 4:34:41, knocking 43 minutes off her previous time, while the club's marathon legend, Andy Wilmot, finished in 4:35:03.

Charlii Bower, also raising money for charity and running her first marathon, should be proud of her time of 5:49:23.

Unfortunately one Halstead Road Runner did fall victim to the tough conditions, though.

Jim Clark was bang on target for the first 24 miles but collapsed at mile 25.

Thankfully he was well looked after by St John’s Ambulance and is now recovering.