Brighton Marathon: Last year's winners retain titles

Stuart Hawkes and Helen Davies won the men and women's races for the second consecutive year.

Mr Hawkes, 40, of Tipton, overtook second placed Dan Nash who lead the race until mile 25.

With a time of 2:22:32, Mr Hawkes said: "I'm absolutely delighted. I love the crowds, I love the way the organisers look after the athletes, they look after us from start to finish.

"With two miles to go I could see that I was within touching distance, about 17 seconds behind. It was a case of closing in slowly, and conserving energy in case there was a sprint to the finish."

The top three in the men's race were: Stuart Hawkes 2:22:32; Dan Nash 2:22:53; and Kevin Rojas 2:23:52.

Mr Rojas, of Brighton and Hove Athletics Club, returned to his local marathon after having to pull out of last year's race due to illness.

Helen Davies, 38, of Ipswich Jaffa running club, came in first in the women's race for her second year.

The men's race winners: (l-r) Dan Nash, Stuart Hawkes and Kevin Rojas

On winning for her second year, Ms Davies said: "It's amazing. It's why I wanted to come back and defend my title. I also wanted to run under 2:40, and I've done both!

"It's an amazing atmosphere."

On whether she'll be back next year, she said: "If I do a spring marathon it will be Brighton."

The top three women were: Helen Davies 22:38:38; Sarah Webster 2:48:59; and Sara Bird 2:52:18.

The women's winners: (l-r) Sarah Webster, Helen Davies and Sara Bird