THE Brathay Windermere Marathon - a revival of the race which last took place 20 years ago - has been hailed a success after Sunday's running saw 1,300 runners take part.

Chief executive of the Brathay Hall Trust, Godfrey Owen, commented: "Despite the rain over the last few days, over 1,300 competitors still turned out to complete the marathon We were joined by several hundred spectators throughout the course, who had a huge positive impact on all the runners.

"Making the occasion even more special was the final race taking place today of the Brathay Challenge - ten marathons being run in ten consecutive days by seven athletes.

" These runners smashed a world record and have raised significant funds for the Brathay Hall Trust."

Julian Mawson, aged 36, of Leeds, won the marathon, completing the testing course in 2 hours 47 minutes and 32 seconds.

Adri Hartveld, 47, was second in 2-56-16 and Gary Woolgar, 46, of Worthing, was third in 2-56-35.

Prizes were presented by champion fell runner Joss Naylor, and Godfrey Owen and John Lee of the Brathay Hall Trust.

The fastest ten marathons in ten consecutive days challenger was Simon Moseley, 41, from Runcorn who completed the ten marathons with a fastest time of 3-25-00 on the day of the race to 3-54-50.

In all, Simon ran for a total of 37 hours, 41 minutes and 14 seconds during the challenge and had an average race time of 3 hours, 46 minutes and 7 seconds.

The revival of the Brathay Windermere Marathon and the setting of the ten marathons in ten consecutive days Brathay Challenge are both in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Brathay Hall Trust.

As part of these celebrations, the doors to the Estate and all the onsite facilities have been thrown open to visitors for a dedicated open day.

Activity options include its state of the art new Canopy Walk, a Climbing Wall, Canoes and Whale boats.

In addition to the activities, a Circus troupe from Ambleside Circus Skills School, Jesters; two live brands, The Lakes Jazzmen and Boomdang; were also attending.

All events that have been taking place during and in the run up to the Brathay Windermere Marathon have raised funds for the Brathay Hall Trust's charitable work. The Trust launched a Capital Appeal to upgrade and modernise its Estate Buildings.

This important work will enable the organisation to expand its important work with children and young people from around the UK.

The Brathay Hall Trust works in partnership with various national and regional youth agencies in helping children and young people overcome difficulties arising from their personal and social circumstances and giving them the skills to make positive choices about their behaviour and attitude.

It also delivers corporate training to a large number of organisations globally, and the surpluses generated from this help support the Brathay Trust's work with disadvantaged young people.

For more information or to donate to the Brathay World Record Challenge, visit www.brathaychallenge.co.uk