HUNDREDS of runners enjoyed perfect conditions as they took part in one of the oldest marathons in the country.

The 26th annual Abingdon Marathon attracted 735 runners to Tilsley Park yesterday, where former Olympic gymnast and Against Breast Cancer fundraiser Suzanne Dando signalled the start.

Last year’s women’s champion Samantha Amend, 30, from High Wycombe, retained the title, dedicating her victory to her husband James, who died unexpectedly a fortnight ago.

She said: “I needed to come back and win it from last year.

“The one thing I was told by people was to never give up running. That’s what’s getting me through at the moment. I’m doing it for him and my children.”

She crossed the line in two hours, 45 minutes and 38 seconds, shaving four minutes off her London Marathon time.

The men’s event was won by New Zealander Paul Martelletti, 30, who finished in 2:28:37.

The top local finisher, Oxford City Athletics Club’s Steve Male, 44, came fifth, just nine weeks after the birth of his daughter Ava.

The father-of-two, who runs Fit2Run, in Wootton Road, Abingdon, said: “It’s the first time I’ve run a marathon, but I missed quite a bit of training when Ava was born.

“It was all okay until about 22 miles and my legs started to go a bit and it became really hard.”

Oxford medical student Jeremy Wales, 30, of Harcourt Terrace, Headington, raised hundreds of pounds for specialist equipment at the children’s spinal unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, near Aylesbury.

He said: “This is the hardest thing I’ve done in my life, but I feel I’ve really achieved something to get over the line in under four hours. I was over at the hospital for a bit, and all of us who worked there were very touched by the experience of working in the paediatric unit.”

And Samantha Miller, 40, of The Oval, Bicester, raised more than £1,000 for Alzheimer’s research to help her father David Miller, 65, who suffers from the disease.

She said: “It was the hardest thing ever, but I feel amazing. It’s my first one, but I never want to do it again.”

As she crossed the line, her mother Christine , 60, presented her with a bunch of flowers.

She said: “I’m so proud of her, and her dad would be as well. I’ve tried to tell him what she’s doing, but he doesn’t really understand. I’m just so pleased for her.”

lsloan@oxfordmail.co.uk l For a race report and more marathon pictures, see Thursday’s Oxford Mail l Sport: Page 40