A HALSTEAD marathon legend is preparing for his 27th London Marathon and his 744th overall.

Andy Wilmot is one of a dedicated group of club runners ready to take on the challenge.

The Halstead Road Runners are stepping up preparations and will be represented by seven competitors at the renowned event which takes place on Sunday, April 22.

Tom Porter will be aiming to beat his personal best time of 3h 11m which he achieved at the York marathon last year.

Meg Hollinshead will also take to the streets after being picked out of the hat to represent the club which is given one space per year by England Athletics.

It will be her first London Marathon having previously done the Halstead version in 5h 17ms.

The London event will also be the first time Stuart Ashworth does a marathon. He’s had some minor injury set-backs but training has gone well for him otherwise.

He will be running for the Children’s Society and is aiming to go under the four hour mark.

James Smith is becoming a London Marathon veteran with this year’s event being the fifth time he will take part.

It will also be the second of the major world marathons he has done this year after he completed the Tokyo version in February in 2h 43 m.

He’s hoping to keep-up his record of finishing within three hours at the London Marathon. Gavin Allen is no stranger to the London marathon either having run it six times before. He deferred his place last year due to injury but he’s eager to make up for missing out this year.

Finally, Rachel Roughan will compete in her second version of the event after doing it in 2016.

Illness and snow have had an impact on training but she’s in top-form and ready to try and beat the four hour mark during the ultimate test of fitness and training.