Industry puts in marathon effort

A woman in an Old Hooky outfit has broken the world record for the fastest marathon time for a female dressed as a bottle.

Hook Norton resident Gill Begnor completed the London Marathon on Sunday in 4hrs 54mins - beating the previous record by just over five minutes.

In doing so she raised more than £2,300 for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.

She said: "The low point of the race for me was the last 22.2 miles - every inch of which my legs were telling me that I must be crazy if I thought they were going to run for five hours carrying an 11.5lb costume.

"Crossing the finishing line wasn't quite the moment of elation I'd hoped for either, as I was too tall to fit under the overhead boards, so the crowds were treated to the hugely amusing sight of a seven foot beer bottle being knocked over and finishing the marathon on its knees."

Another bottle of beer also took the streets of London on Sunday with Richard Erdilek dressed in the London Pride costume coming home in 4hrs 35mins.

He was one of 13 who took part in the race on behalf of Fuller's London Pride - the official beer of the London Marathon.

Others included Lisa Walker and John Walker of the Queens Head, Chesham, Buckinghamshire and Sian Smith and Ami King of the Bell in Outwood, Surrey.

A spokesman for Fuller's said: "Driven by a desire to raise money for charity, prove people wrong or beat their colleagues, the team put in an amazing effort as they all made it to the finish line. Each runner was able to raise money for their own charities, with Fuller's committing £250 to each one."

Publican​ news editor Matt Eley completed the course in 4hrs 27mins, raising nearly £3,000 for the NSPCC.