'I ran London Marathon in Blackpool Tower costume'

A man who ran the London Marathon dressed as the Blackpool Tower said it was "great to put Blackpool on the map".

It was the 10th time Tony Howarth has run the race, and the third dressed as the famous seafront attraction.

Completing the race in 4 hours 46 minutes, the 67-year-old said he "absolutely loved it, the atmosphere was just tremendous, it's electric".

Tony, who has raised £70,000 over the years for Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre Samaritans, added: "It's a good outfit to wear. It gets recognised as Blackpool Tower but also the Eiffel Tower, Rapunzel's tower, Big Ben, and someone even shouted out 'ooh look he's wearing a chess piece'."

He explained the costume was "actually quite light, it's got superb shoulder pads and a strap inside so it's not shaking about".

But "if it's windy then you've had it really, it's the leaning tower of Blackpool".

Fortunately, this year "the weather was perfect, a nice sunny day but cool as well".

"I've only ever been training in it two or three times because I borrow it from a guy that lives in London whose got a production company, but who is from South Shore in Blackpool," he told BBC Radio Lancashire.

He said he was "absolutely" going to race again in the iconic costume "and I'll keep going as long as I can".

"You've got thousands of people running the marathon, raising millions for charity and millions benefit," he said.

"It's just good spirits all round, you can forget all the other stuff that's happening in the world.

"It's a good day."

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