MARCUS Taylor led Burnden’s band of runners over the line at the London Marathon in a great time of 3hrs 25mins 49secs.

Taylor posted 5k split times ranging from 20:50 to 25:02 before crossing the halfway point in 1:35:14.

Martyn Pollitt was next to finish in 3:35:02. He maintained a consistent pace through 30k before digging in over the last 12k. He crossed the halfway point just beyond Tower Bridge in 1:36:18.

Ed Ashton was exactly a minute behind Pollitt in 3:36:02 and he was was over halfway in 1:40:38.

One second off Ashton’s time at halfway was Simon Marland, who was the fourth member to come in under four hours with a time of 3:56:57.

Michael Caine reached halfway in 1:52:50 and finished in 4:13:21, while Katy Thompson paced the course well. She crossed the line in 4:19:59, having covered the first half in just under two hours in 1:59:14.

Tim Taylor’s range of 5k split times was under 10 minutes as he reached halfway in 2:00:15 and went on to cross the finish line in 4:23:46.

Isaline Pollitt was next in 4:33:57, after posting under two hours for the front half in 1:57:47.

Trevor Fishwick crossed halfway in 2:30:16, going on to record 5:31:16, while Mark Davis registered a time of 6:10:24 and Dawn Evans 6:58:53, with Mark passing 13.1 miles in 2:33:30 and Dawn reaching the same point in 3:05:32.

Almost 12 months exactly since having hip replacement surgery Andy Staveley was finally able to challenge in his first proper fell race back in action, the Lord’s Seat event in Whinlatter near Keswick, a five-mile test with 1,400 feet of ascent.

Staveley reached the top in first place in the V50 category but a generous and, as he puts it, very “runnable” downhill section to the finish took its toll and allowed others to reel him in.

He finished 47th out of 151 and fifth V50 in a time of 41:55.

The Bolton 10k at Leverhulme Park saw David Broadhurst register 46:54, the first club member to finish.

He was followed closely by Burnden’s first female finisher, Kate Ellis, who crossed the line in 48:18.

Other results: Paul Johnson (51:27), David Newman (52:07), Graham Robinson (52:26), Nick Haworth (53:01), Denise Hodgkinson (54:28), Maggie Slamin (58:17), David Morrison (58:35), Susan Wood (61:31), Rachael Barrett (62:34), Louise Geoghegan (62:46).

While marathon eyes were mostly trained on events in London, three members opted for travelling 26.2 miles along the Fylde coast in the Blackpool Marathon, all finishing within 10 minutes of each other.

Adrian Ashburn was first to finish in 4:00:47, followed by Rebecca Wensley in 4:07:26 and Richard Blake in 4:10:27.