The letter B has been the theme of the year for a group of runners from the town who have completed four marathons between them.

On October 7 the Bridport Runners finished the ‘B series’ – an unofficial series of running events over the course of the year which all start with the letter B.

The group of six runners travelled to Berlin to take part in the city’s prestigious marathon, which is now in its 41st year.

The Berlin Marathon saw more than one million spectators along the streets of the German capital.

They and many more viewers on the TV and the internet witnessed a new world record by Kenyan champion Dennis Kimetto who completed the course in two hours, two minutes and 57 seconds.

In addition, the Bridport group competed in the Bournemouth Marathon festival recently.

Other events starting with the letter B throughout the year that the runners have competed in have included the Blackmore Vale Half Marathon and the club’s own Bridport Jurassic Coast run.

Commenting on the variety and challenges of the different races in the B series, Bridport Runners’ chairman Brian Shelley said: “In participating in races over multiple distances and for runners of different abilities, we have shown that it is possible to start this wonderful hobby from scratch and improve through constant training.”

At the Berlin Marathon, Ben Renshaw was crowned the fastest of the Bridport Runners after he conquered the 26.2-mile distance in two hours, 43 minutes and 10 seconds.

Ben finished as number 236 out of nearly 29,000 finishers on the day, and was 49 seconds faster than his run at the London Marathon in April.

The second fastest of the Bridport Runners was Kazy Vincent-Janes with her time of three hours, 49 minutes and 18 seconds – which made her three minutes faster than on her last race in the Bournemouth Marathon about a year ago.

Hagen Gerle crossed the finishing line behind the Brandenburger Tor in his first marathon in four hours, three minutes and nine seconds.

Vicky Ackerman followed in four hours, six minutes and 32 seconds – cutting off more than half an hour from her first marathon time in Bournemouth.

Brian Shelley and son Dan, who had already run the New York Marathon together, finished together in four hours, 12 minutes and ten seconds.

The Berlin Marathon marked an exciting milestone for Brian as his 11th marathon so far.

For more information visit bridport-runners.co.uk