MARATHON MAN TOMKINS

Fiesta ST driver returned a very respectable time of 4 hours 41 minutes in his first London Marathon.

Fiesta Championship campaigner Gordon Tomkins swapped his trusty ST for a pair of running shoes recently to take part in the London Marathon.

It was the first ever marathon for the Oxshott based driver who was inspired by watching the TV program "Marathon Man" which featured Eddie Izzard running over forty marathons almost back to back. Gordon thought he should at least attempt to run one and raise much needed funds for Shooting Star Children's Hospice in Hampton.

Gordon started training last October, just after he heard that he had been allocated a place via the ballot and followed the beginners training plan posted on the Virgin web site.

Despite a couple of injuries he trained at least five days a week from October 2010 until the week before the race. In his first week of training he ran just four miles in total, but by the last week he covered over fifty miles – quite a transformation!

Gordon completed the race in 4 hours 41 mins and raised (so far) £3600 for the Hospice. Now that he has fully recovered Gordon would like to thank all the Fiesta Drivers and teams who sponsored him. "I am not sure that it's normal to take up distance running at the age of 54 but I have lost nearly a stone in weight and I feel fitter than I ever have before so I am now looking for my next challenge!" he said.