ABERGAVENNY man David Hodgins has joined the small and select group of non-professioanl runners who have succeeded in breaking the magic three hour barrier mark in the London Marathon.

Running in his ninth London Marathon, the former King Henry School pupil officially recorded a time of two hours and 57 minutes.

A feat which was rendered all the more remarkable considering Hodgins suffered from a bout of Pneumonia last December which seriously interrupted his training schedule and placed grave doubt on his ability to even participate in the 2012 event.

With this setback in mind, Hodgins's main target was just to hopefully complete the grueling 26 miles plus course.

Not only did he succeed in crossing the line, his finishing time also gave him automatic entry for the next two London Marathons and placed him in the top 1000 runners of the 38000 who competed.

Now in his early 40s, Hodgins took up distance running as a hobby when he was at university. He enjoyed it so much he has gone on to run in half and full marathons throughout Europe as well as in Dubai.

With a two year exemption for London 2013/14, any,and all thoughts of putting his feet up and calling it a day have been postponed indefinitely.