Egham blind couple 'delighted' with Marathon times

Apr 28 2009 By Russell Butt

Larraine Reed, 51, and partner Clive Tyrell, 55

An Egham couple who are registered blind showed that disability was no barrier to competiting in the London Marathon.

Larraine Reed, 51, and partner Clive Tyrell, 55, ran on Sunday and both finished the course in times they were delighted with.

"We're both over the moon. Clive did it in six hours and 37-minutes," said Larraine, "And I did it in one minute short of seven hours, so I was only about 20-minutes behind him, it's fantastic."

The pair, from Normandy Walk, used an online blog to document their training in the weeks leading up the marathon. Now Larraine thinks they might be able to blog about how much they ache for weeks after it.

She said: "Clive can barely walk up the stairs, he says he has never known any aches like it. It's great to have done the race but the pain you have to go through the next day is terrible, but it's worth it."

The two champions were guided round the course by friends, and by completing their ambition, they have also helped raise valuable funds for deafblind charity, Sense.

Larraine said: "I don't know what the total will be as there are still some cheques coming in, but we are at about £900 now."

As for next year's marathon, Larraine said the two of them were content to have just done it the once, but added: "I think just once might be our last, mind you, you never know."