Ex-London champ enters big race

Eamonn Martin has signed up for the Hastings Lions Club-organised event on Sunday March 23.

Martin, now 55, won the London Marathon in 1993 - the same year he triumphed in Hastings.

The Basildon man, who competed in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, heads a stellar list of former Hastings winners set to return for the 30th staging of the popular 13.1-mile race.

Paul Davies-Hale, a giant of British road running, is also coming back. Davies-Hale was the winner at Hastings in 1989 and 1990. His time of 62:10 in 1989 was the second fastest in Hastings history and the quickest in the world for a half marathon that year.

Caroline Horne - the women’s champion in 1985 and 1997 - has also entered even though she hasn’t run a half marathon for 16 years. Derek Stevens - winner of the first two Hastings Half Marathons in 1985 and 1986 - is also in the line-up along with Nick Rose, who held the UK half marathon record until last year.

Jo Kelsey (now Meeks) - the women’s winner in 2005 - is in the field too, as are Mark Flint, Ben Fish and Michael Coleman. Fish was the last British winner at Hastings in 2010.