A pair of marathon-running school teachers have proved themselves to be amongst the best runners in the country, after completing the London Marathon in less than three hours.

Andrew Martin, from Mylor Bridge school, and Richard Pascoe, from Penryn Primary School, both qualified for the 'Championship Entry' after finishing a previous half marathon in under one hour 15 minutes, and got to start just behind the elite runners.

After years of training Richard managed to complete the race in two hours 44 minutes and 44 seconds but regrettably Andrew, who was running his first marathon, suffered from cramp and started to lag behind, finishing the race in two hours 46 minutes and 54 seconds.

This means that Richard automatically qualifies for another Championship Entry next year, but Andrew does not and will have to run another race in under the qualifying time of two hours and 45 minutes.

Andrew and Richard are both members of the Mile High Running Club in Penryn, and have been training together for years.

They can often be seen jogging around Penryn and Falmouth, and were in great shape for the epic race.

Richard has run the London Marathon three times but this was Andrew's first time - and he was itching to achieve the coveted time of two hours and 45 minutes.

Richard said: "I've been running with Andrew for years and we've been training partners together.

"Just at the end I pushed on but we ran most of it together.

"There are so many people coming over the line at the end, its a mass finish so we just got the medals from the marathon staff.

"It was Andrew's first marathon and he did exceptionally well, for a debut he ran very well."

Andrew said: "I got cramp at mile 25 so I had to stop for a bit, but I managed to complete it in two hours 46 minutes and 54 seconds.

"It means I would get a good for age start next year, but I don't intend to do it again.

"It felt amazing, the atmosphere was incredible, I've never ran in anything like that before, I was lucky enough to run 23 miles with my best friend, Richard, until I got cramp and told him to run on.

"I'm back in work now, I got back at 11pm on Sunday night.

"My legs are very fatigued, I'm struggling to walk today."

The race this year was won by Daniel Wanjiru of Kenya in two hours and five minutes, and the fastest Brit was Swansea based Josh Griffiths, who completed the race in just under two hours 15 minutes.