Ledgard puts down an early marker

With the spring marathon season about to get underway Chris Ledgard has put down an early marker for the 2009 Avon rankings.

His time of 2hrs 55mins 31secs wasn't a personal best, though it was only seven minutes slower than his fastest mark of 2:48, clocked 11 years ago, and almost certainly won't be the quickest by a county runner this year.

But even at this early stage of the year, Ledgard would be a decent bet for a rare marathon winner after he triumphed in the Duchy event last week.

The second oldest marathon in the country behind the Polytechnic race, the Duchy is not a PB course and is a country mile away from the pizzazz and glamour that London will offer next month.

It is one for the purist which is why Ledgard, who competes for Great Western Runners, was understandably proud of his achievement.

"I am surprised and delighted to have won it," said Ledgard. "Last year's Ollie Gibson (Cornwall AC) was the favourite and he had quite a lead at 10 miles but then an injury forced him to drop out and left me in front.

"The Duchy is a two-lap course and fortunately on the first lap I was able to run with a couple of guys, who were doing the 20 miles race, but on the second I was on my own and that was hard going.

"The weather was horrible and there was a three-to-four miles stretch where you were completely exposed to wind coming off the sea."

So to get under three hours was a fair achievement, especially as it might be Ledgard's final marathon in a career that has taken the BBC Radio 4 producer to London, New York and Tresco in the Isles of Scilly.

"I am calling it a day now and I can't see myself running another marathon," added Ledgard. If that is the case the Duchy victory was a nice way to wrap up that part of his running career.