Edwards continued his marathon mission with another impressive result at an event with an interesting handicap race format that used a staggered start based upon an average of runner's last three marathon finish times. The timed event involved the completion of 3.28 mile (5.3km) laps along the River Thames within a 7 hour limit with the option to do as many or as few laps as desired.

The multi-lap action kicked off at 8am as they ran out and back laps on flat trail and waterside towpath although there was a fearsome tailwind on the out section. Maintaining a consistent pace was difficult due to the gusts. Edwards faced a further challenge when he took a tumble at 25 miles however he soon regained his equilibrium and pushed on to the finish.

In the marathon, Steve Edwards finished in 3:44:10 and was 11th overall out of 167. More importantly, he is the first person to run sub 3 hours 20 minutes for 900 marathons with an average finish time of 3:19:20.

In a nice bit of symmetry other notable results included Allan Green completing his 600th marathon in 5:16:20 and Vanessa Brewster her 300th marathon in 5:54:10.

Steve Edwards thanked the organisers, sponsors and everyone who has supported him, reserving a special ‘thank you’ for his wife Teresa who is always by his side. Steve dedicated his 900th marathon to her saying: “I couldn’t have done this without her.”

Image courtesy of Steve Edwards