Cheltenham Harrier Matt Evans says he hasn’t “come back to earth” after a superb run in this year’s London Marathon.

It was the first time he had competed in the race and he finished in a very impressive two hours, 54 minutes, 23 seconds.

He had only run one race over 26.2 miles before – that was in Poland in 2018 – and had said before the big day that he was aiming to get as close to three hours as possible.

“It would be amazing to break three hours, that’s the ultimate aim but it will be a bit of a push,” Evans told The Local Answer last month. “Anywhere around 3.05 I’ll be happy with.”

Needless to say, Evans, who joined the Harriers in 2013 after leaving university, was very happy!

“Not only did I manage to break the three-hour mark as I hoped, I managed to absolutely smash it,” he said. “I haven't yet come back down to earth.

“I kept it fairly controlled at the start, got a bit carried away up to halfway, started to cramp at mile 14 but recovered for a bit longer, then from mile 20 onwards I was wading through treacle but just kept the legs turning over knowing that sub-three was still on.

“I battled with a mummy and a golfer en route, both of whom I beat, but I eventually succumbed to the man in the tartan budgie smugglers!”

Evans, a former Pate’s Grammar School pupil, put his name forward to run this year’s iconic event while on a pub crawl in London just before Christmas.

He can’t remember which pub he was in – it was somewhere near Tower Bridge – and the beers were certainly flowing after his run on Sunday.

“Needless to say, there was much celebrating afterwards with a few pints with the same group of people that I was out with when I initially signed up,” he said.

Meanwhile, Stroud Harrier Kate Vaughan Williams, who was also running her first London Marathon, finished in a very respectable five hours, two minutes, 32 seconds.

Like Evans, she had previously run only one marathon, and after completing the London she said “I did it!

“I was quite slow and steady but I enjoyed most of it.

“I did get horrible blisters due to the torrential rain at the beginning but the sun came out at for the final sprint on Pall Mall.”

That was obviously a bonus, but it appears it may not be enough to persuade her to run the distance again.

“Never again!” she said.