WHEN runner John Hadfield missed out on taking part in the London marathon after getting stuck on the tube he was determined not to let his sponsors down.

So he drove all the way back to Lancashire to run 26 miles from Blackpool to Blackburn.

London marathon rules state runners must register at the London Arena, Canary Wharf, by 5.30pm on Saturday before the Sunday race.

John, 28, drove down with his brother Michael but misjudged the journey time across the capital.

John, a former Shadsworth High School pupil, said: "The tube journey took longer than we thought and we arrived at 5.34pm. There were half a dozen people on the same tube train who couldn't register either -- one was from Amsterdam.

"I tried to explain we had come a long way but they said their computers shut down at 5.30pm. I was gutted because I had raised more than £1,000 in sponsorship for the Roy Castle Cancer Fund. But I was so fired up to do it that I decided to do it by myself."

John and Michael drove back to Blackburn, and on Sunday John drove to Blackpool and left his car then ran the 26.6 miles along A-roads to his Knuzden home -- slightly longer than a marathon.

John, deputy manager of a Leeds nightclub, stopped off at garages to buy bottles of water on the way and completed his own challenge in five hours and 23 minutes.

John, of Brantwood Avenue, said: "I felt really glad that I had done it but I couldn't straighten my legs the next day."