A TOTAL of 699 runners completed the annual Brathay Windermere Marathon on Sunday but for 15 of them in was the final leg of the gruelling 10in10 challenge.

Grant Johnson was first home to take the honours but the real stars were those who completed their 10th marathon in 10 days - and join the exclusive club of runners who have achieved the feat since it was first launched in 2007.

Ever since Sir Christopher Ball's initial idea, and the first tentative attempt to run 10 marathons over consecutive days, the event has grown in scale and reputation.

Today, more than 80 runners have managed to complete 10 consecutive circuits of Windermere, England’s largest lake.

But on Sunday, one lap proved to be enough of a challenge for nearly 700 runners from across the country and overseas who took part in a marathon crowned the UK's most scenic marathon by Runner's World magazine last year.

Starting and finishing on the front lawn of Brathay Hall, runners ran the 26.2 mile course in an anti clockwise direction around Windermere, taking in the sites of Hawkshead, Newby Bridge, Bowness-on-Windermere and Ambleside.

And it was Johnson who was first home, the Walney runners completing the event in 2 hours 40 minutes 46 seconds.

It was a great effort but more than 17 minutes slower than the record of 2:23:16 set by Mike Critchley of Bolton AC in 1985.

Johnson, 23, finished exactly three minutes ahead of Phillip Eccleston of Burnden Road Runners. Iain Jones crossed the line in third place, clocking 2:47:06 with Jason Merrick of Driffield Striders fourth in 2:53:07, the first V40 home.

The top five was completed by Mark Carwardine, crossing the line in 2:53:31, who took the honour of first V50.

Others taking part included two friends of Negus Finn, the Kendal footballer who died of cardiac arrest in September last year.

Jamie O'Callaghan and Liam Powell have raised £800 for Negus' son Kaori. Jamie crossed the line in 3:20, in 54th place, and Liam in 179th place with a time of 3:49.

And three fathers of pupils at Lancaster Steiner School put their best foot forward to raise money for the school.

Danny Seddon, Adam Roberts and Rutger Vermeulen all ran together and stopped to collect their big team of little supporters - so they could run the last 100 yards together to cross the finish line in a time of 4:36.

The women's winner was Katherine Cousins, a member of Lancaster and Morecambe AC. The 27-year-old from Carnforth clocked 3 hours, 7 minutes, 23 seconds which saw her finish in 25th place overall.

Sunday also saw the first Brathay Windermere Marathon's children's one mile fun run where 70 youngsters took part.

The other winner on the day was the Ambleside-based Brathay Trust as the event has raised more than £1million since its launch enabling them to work with over 10,000 disadvantaged and vulnerable children, young adults and their families.