CROYDON HARRIERS Neil Aikman and Mohsin Harhara conquered the Virgin London Marathon with lifetime best performances.
Aikman bettered his previous best by more than nine minutes after crossing the line in 3hr 37secs. Harhara knocked a staggering 32 minutes from his best set on the same course 12 months ago.
In the Virgin Money Giving London Mini Marathon, Croydon had 25 borough youngsters participating in an event which takes place over the last three miles of the course.
Michael Eagling notched the club's highest position of the day in seventh overall in the boys U13s race in 17mins 28secs. Stevie Lawrence also shone in 16th in the women's U17s race.
The club's leading runners in the other age groups were Omar Harhara (39th, boys U15s), Laurence Johnston (46th, men U17s), Abbie Burrett (70th, girls U13s) and Naomi Carty (49th, girls U15s).
Croydon's men's and women's team kicked off their Southern Athletics League second division campaign in the best possible fashion, with a victory at Kingston.
A rejuvenated Croydon ended as comfortable winners ultimately finishing on 196.5pts, with hosts Epsom & Ewell (172pts), St Mary's Richmond (169pts) and Swindon (136.5pts).
Croydon picked up 18 A event wins and 11 B wins, and eight event maximums.
English schools finalist Emma Fossett won the athlete of the match award thanks to her 30.32m effort in the javelin.
Her elder sister Zoe, made it maximum points when she took the honours in the B event with a throw of 27.64m. The multi-talented sisters went onto notch further wins in the B hammer and A triple jump.
A further event maximum came from Tamara Reid (30.29m) and Saskia Navratnum (28.93m) in the discus, with more joy in the pole vault where Stevie Lawrence (2.40m) and Rochelle Roye (2.10m) took the spoils.
Lawrence then teamed with Mandy Rowley-Jones in the high jump and the pair recorded heights of 1.47m (a personal-best) and 1.25m to ensure they topped the standings.
