A HAMPSHIRE runner has passed on the benefits of completing the London Marathon after smashing her fundraising target at her first attempt.

Lordshill Road Runners club member Rachel Byers had hoped to raise £50 for each of the 26 miles run in the marathon with a target of £1,300 for the Forest Edge School in Totton, which teaches children with special needs.

But in what was her first ever London marathon, Mrs Byers, 35, from Rownhams, more than doubled that figure raising £4,000 and enabling the school to buy an outdoor classroom and sensory garden.