FIRST-TIME marathon runner Neil Long, 34, from Souldern, said he was delighted to beat his target time of four hours - he managed the route in 3hrs 54mins and raised £1,000 for the British Heart Foundation.

He said: "There was some rain, but not enough to put anyone off. It was a great feeling getting round the course."

Asked if he would tackle another marathon, Mr Long said: "At this precise moment, no - but you never know what next year will bring."

John Nelson, 50, from Kings End, Bicester, is the veteran of three London Marathons.

He was amazed to knock 40 minutes off last year's time and came in at 3hrs 40mins.

He said: "It was a great day - wonderful atmosphere, cheering crowds, minimal rain and a great feeling of wellbeing when I discovered I'd covered the course in that sort of time.

"The only trouble is that my new record will take a lot of beating next year!"

He raised £2,000 for the charity Children with Leukaemia.

Tom Freeman, 18, from Cope Close, Botley, Oxford, had a special reason for running for the Arthritis Research Campaign. His 11-year-old half-brother Isaac was diagnosed with the disease.

Mr Freeman, a sixth-former at Matthew Arnold School in Cumnor Hill, said: "Seeing him suffer like that at such a young age made me want to do something to help fund research which might help other people like him. I was thinking about him all the way round."

He raised £2,000 for the charity.

He said: "I aimed to come in under four hours and I managed it with four minutes to spare - 3hrs 56mins. I'm sure I'll do better next time."

Oxford Mail sports reporter Ed Mezzetti, 28, from Barton, Oxford, on his third marathon, was delighted with his time of 3hrs 11mins and with raising £250 for the Marion Geraghty Sarcoivosis Trust. He said: "I was very pleased with my performance and now there will be one heck of a party."

Civil servant Scott Johnston, 28, from Windrush Mews, Didcot, was on his first marathon - but it will not be his last.

He said: "It was an absolutely fantastic day - the atmosphere, the crowds, the other runners.

"It was painful at times but I am raring to do the London Marathon again next year.

"Near Hyde Park I saw a hot-air balloon shaped like a monster and I kept that image with me all the way. It made me smile and I had this grin on my face all the rest of the way."

He was cheered on by family, workmates and friends from his native Glasgow.

He aimed for 3hrs 30mins, but said: "I missed the target by 10 minutes. I'm not disappointed - it was a wonderful experience."

He raised £1,500 for the charity Heart UK.

Husband-and-wife team Simon and Nicky Bentley from Leafield, Witney, made the course in around 5hrs 30mins.

Mr Bentley, 59, said: "That was my first and only marathon - it was extremely tough.

"Last year my wife, who had done a marathon before, and I were watching it on television. She said she'd like to do it again and I said I'd do it with her.

"I wanted to do it before I was 60, but believe me, never again! My feet are killing me."

He beat Nicky, 52, home by one minute and he said: "She'll never forgive me for that."

Between them the couple raised £4,000 for the Children's Liver Disease foundation.

Two Wantage men were raising money for the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

Company director and grandfather Mike Rowe, 46, from Greenacres Drive, was raising money for the charity which helped his daughter Paige, who was born blind. He completed the course in 4hrs 31mins.

His colleague, Nathan Rooke, 35, from Charlton Road, a training officer with Didcot firefighters, did his in 3hrs 59 minutes. Between them they raised £3,600.

Mr Rowe, a father of seven, said: "I did my running training on my own round the lanes in rural Oxfordshire. Then to go to London and have millions of people watching you, cheering you and handing you sweets was a most overwhelming and wonderful experience.

"We both want to do the London Marathon again - it was a tremendous day."

Another first-timer who hopes to do another marathon next year is Mark Limbert, 42, the technical director of a fibreoptics communication firm based in Launton, near Bicester.

He got round the course in 4hrs 20mins.

He said: "I was absolutely delighted to get round in that time - it was tough, but very worthwhile."

He raised £3,200 for the British Stammering Association. He said: "I suffered from a stammer from the age of five and especially in my teenage years. The association aims to help very young children so they can conquer their stammer before things get too bad."

Bicester grandmother Elaine Pontefractcor, of New Street, managed to beat the time she clocked when she first ran the marathon five years ago.

Mrs Pontefract, 45, who has two children and three grandchildren, finished the course in 4hrs 22mins - 20 minutes faster than last time she took part.

She said: "I am knackered, it was hard. Suprisingly I managed to go faster this time, I didn't think I would.

"Up until 18 miles it wasn't too bad, but after that I did struggle a bit. The atmosphere was marvellous, they just carry you through."

She raised £1,100 for Bardwell Special School in Hendon Place, Bicester.

Eynsham Roadrunners' 12-strong team all finished their marathons within target times - and 62-year-old Kate Williamson was second in the over-60s category.

Running for their first marathons were Jenny Breaker, Kevin Dawson and Deirbhie Mannion. The other runners were Jonathan Marks, Andy Greenwood, Tony Whitlock, Jane Larbefpier, Jan Cavanagh, Jane Bishop, Tracey Siret and Hildy Frenken.

A knee injury slowed down first-timer Claire Patel, 33, from Foster Road, Abingdon, but she still completed the course.

She said: "I had more or less to shuffle round a large part of the course so my target time of five hours was not possible. I completed the course in six hours."

She raised £1,500 for the charity Well Child which researches into childhood diseases.

And another marathon? Mrs Patel said: "I'll see how I feel when the aches and pains have settled down before I answer that one."

Five hours on the dot was Trudi Wilkes's time for her first marathon.

Mrs Wilkes, 35, from Longworth, the regional digital media manager for Newsquest, publishers of the Oxford Mail, raised £1,300 for the Royal British Legion.

She said: "The crowds were wonderful, the atmosphere electric - I don't think I could have got round without their enthusiastic support."

The four runners from Team Evolve from Bicester raised more than £4,000 for Children with Leukaemia.

Lyn Owen and John Stocker completed the course in 4hrs 36mins and Leanne Miller and Debbie Curtis in 5hrs 8mins.

It was Lyn Owen's second marathon, John Stocker's third and the two women's first.

Cowley postman Sean Brown had to pull out of running the race at the last minute - after contracting a kidney infection. Mr Brown, 36, of Boswell Road, spent five nights in the John Radcliffe Hospital.

He apologised, but promised the £1,324 he raised for Sobell House Hospice would still go towards the charity.