ONE Southampton couple hoping to make a marathon effort next month is Kevin and Sally Gilbert from Shirley.

Although this will be the first marathon for Kevin he is expecting to be out run by his wife who has run four London Marathons so far and has been placed in the elite category after running last year's Berlin marathon in 03.01.03 Dad-of-two Kevin, 46, a handyman, of Wilton Road, said: "I got into running because of Sally and ended up going out for runs with her. I'll just be glad to finish the marathon."

Sally, 50, a nurse at Southampton General Hospital said: "We are raising money for the Wessex Heartbeat. I'm looking forward to it. We won't be running it together unfortunately as I'm starting in the elite category."