TRAIN driver Martin Davis is on course to arrive ahead of time when he competes in this year's London Marathon.

Martin, of Kingshill Road, Swindon, completed a tough 20-mile race in Leicestershire at the weekend in 2hrs 9mins as preparation for the London event on April 18.

He said: "It was a very small field and I was running on my own for a lot of the time."

Martin, 29, is looking at a time of 2 hrs 52 mins, shaving nearly 20 minutes off his 2002 time of 3hrs 11mins. "As long as everything goes all right on the day I should manage it," he said. "My trainers are confident that I will."

He is one of six people being helped in their training by experts from Nike. The amateur athletes, who were selected by Running Fitness magazine from thousands of entrants, have already been on a training camp in Athens.

Martin fits his training runs around shifts as a freight train driver. His brother Anthony, a shunter, is also running in the marathon to raise cash for VICTA, which helps visually impaired children.