RUNNERS from the town lined up alongside a princess and cartoon characters for this year’s London Marathon.

And they’ve raised thousands along the way.

Up to 36,000 athletes took part in the 26.2-mile course after pounding through the streets of the capital to earn their marathon medals and raise money for countless charities.

Examiner reporter Kevin Core, 34, and his girlfriend Katie Chatburn, 29, were running for Action Aid.

Kevin had not received his official time when the Examiner spoke to him yesterday afternoon, but finished around the four-hour mark.

He had wanted to break the four-hour barrier, but said the number of runners made that difficult.

“I’m not too bothered,” he added.

“There were whole sections where you couldn’t get past people because there were so many.

“It was brilliantly organised and the weather was perfect for running.”

The couple raised more than £3,000 for their chosen charity.

Huddersfield businessman Rob Hoult broke the four-hour barrier – by just 54 seconds.

The third time marathon runner joked beating the barrier was the best feeling, especially as it meant he wouldn’t have to run another marathon to achieve the target.

Rob, who runs Hoults Wine Merchants in Huddersfield town centre, finished in three hours, 59 minutes and six seconds.

He said: “It’s great to finally do it.

“I got a bit of cramp at 23 miles but kept going.

“I had my name on my T-shirt and everyone was cheering me on and shouting my name out which was encouraging.

“Half the run was in good conditions but when the sun came out you could really feel it.

“It was a fantastic day, I saw some great fancy dress costumers, I got overtaken by a Lucozade bottle and after I finished I was on the tube with a giant orange.”

Rob was running for the Laura Crane Trust, a cause he’s done a lot of fundraising for.

So far he’s raised £2,600, including £1,700 from a wine tasting evening, but he hopes to be able to reach the £3,000 total.

The elite race winner was Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede in 2.05.15 and Russian Liliya Shobukhova won the women’s event in 2.22.00.

Of the celebrity runners, Princess Beatrice, 21, became the first royal to complete the route as she joined a human caterpillar of 34 runners.

The caterpillar was headed up by Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson’s children, Holly and Sam. And this year Virgin has taken over sponsorship of the event for the first time.

Of the fancy dress runners, the wacky and bizarre included a ginger bread man, George Bingham, 49, from West Yorkshire, who wore a 1/12 scale model of the Angel of the North.

The first fancy dress runner home was David Ross aka Fred Flintstone, who crossed the finish line in three hours, seven minutes and 34 seconds.