WHILE many runners from all across Wales were sweating it out at the London Marathon last Sunday, one marathoner who wasn’t was Justin Baird-Murray.

That’s because he was still basking in the hard-earned glory of having completed the Boston Marathon in America on Monday, April 26.

The managing director of the family-owned Metropole Hotel and Spa in Llandrindod Wells finished the race in an impressive three hours and 23 minutes.

The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest mass participation race and was the final marathon Justin needed to run to complete the achievement of running all six of the world’s Major Marathons.

The six Major Marathons are the races in London, New York, Berlin, Chicago, Tokyo and Boston.

This accomplishment was acknowledged after the race when Justin was presented with the ‘Abbots World Marathon Majors’ medal.

The medal is one of the most exclusive in the running world, and is designed to honour the achievements of non-professional runners, who are often overlooked when they come up against Olympic and world champion marathon runners such as Britain’s Mo Farah and this year’s London Marathon winner Eliud Kipchoge.

Justin, who has been using his running events to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer Research UK, said: “Running the ‘Six Majors’ has been a wonderful experience, as well as a challenging one. It has been fascinating to absorb the atmosphere in each city, and each of the events has been totally individual. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves running.”

Over the last 12 months, running with his wife Judy in various events both in Wales and overseas, the couple have now raised more than £10,000 for Pancreatic Cancer Research UK.

Justin and Judy decided to run their marathons to raise money for pancreatic cancer in memory of Justin’s father David Baird-Murray OBE and Nick Ireland, a former general manager of the Metropole Hotel, as both men died from the disease.

Justin, who often gets up at 6am to go on a nine or 10-mile run before work, said his next aim after his Boston run is to help Judy complete her own Marathon Majors collection.

Like Justin, Judy has run the London, New York, Berlin, Chicago and Tokyo marathons. Unfortunately she was unable to gain entry this year’s Boston Marathon but hopes to run the race next year.

Fortunately for Justin, who is 53, he had a fast enough time to gain automatic entry for Boston in his age category.

Together with his wife he has now hatched a plan to pace her to a time of around four hours in the Edinburgh Marathon later this spring on May 27, which would be enough for Judy to run in Boston next year without having to go through the race’s “lucky dip” ballot system.

Meanwhile among the many runners from Wales who took part in the hottest ever London Marathon was Kelly-Ann Bowen from Brecon. First time marathon runner Kelly-Ann Bowen, who is originally from The Watton, completed the course in under four hours despite temperatures that soared to 24 degrees Celsius – the hottest in the race’s 37-year history.

The 33-year-old now lives in Wigmore, near Leominster, and is a member of Croft Ambrey Running Club. She finished in a time of three hours, 53 minutes and 25 seconds.

Her proud mum Ann Bowen, who still lives in The Watton, was keen to make sure Brecon & Radnor Express readers knew about her daughter’s achievement.