WENDY Jones defied extreme, unseasonable conditions, at the Rotterdam Marathon, to achieve a fantastic top ten finish against a high-calibre field in one of the world's most historic races.

Temperatures, soaring before the race began, continued climbing. After 15 kilometres, she decided to slow from her pre-race schedule.

While hundreds of other runners succumbed to the heat, a consistent series of splits brought her comfortably to the finish in an excellent new personal best and club record of 2.45.54.

This time ranks her third in the UK. Meanwhile, several club members joined the thousands running in the London Marathon.

Conditions were again unseasonably hot, making the latter stages difficult. Despite this, several good performances were achieved.

Although disappointed with his time, the club was again led home by Pancho Gonzalez-Diaz who dipped under the three-hour barrier, despite his preparations being hit by his recent relocation to Spain.

However, the best club performance came from Terry Ranger who defied the conditions to achieve a significant new personal best time of 3.32.37.

Results: Rotterdam Marathon: 1 H Ominami (Japan) 2.26.37, 9 W Jones 2.45.54.

London Marathon: 1 M Lel (Kenya) 2.07.41, 666 P Gonzalez-Diaz 2.57.27, 3610 T Ranger 3.32.57, 6699 C Riches 3.54.40, 7414 T Willson 3.58.35, 8415 T Kingston 4.05.07, 9187 N Dunnage 4.10.08, 17692 J Fallon 4.58.57, 20710 A Bradley 5.23.31.