A group of Sussex athletes travelled to Alicante for some early-season warm-weather training and discovered that conditions were poorer than those at home.

Coach Steve King said: "At least the rain was warmer and the training facilities were brilliant.

"Competition was much tougher than we would have faced at home and it was a worthwhile trip."

Horsham hurdler Clare Milborrow appears to be in good shape and her best run came in an international 100m in which she raced into a 1.3m head wind and still managed to clock 14.09sec, a time she would not normally expect to clock until June.

Some measure of her achievement was that Olga Bolshova from Moldova won the race in 14.01sec, one week after clocking 13.5sec in good conditions.

In the men's 110m hurdles, Paul Gilding (Worthing), who faced a headwind of 2.6 metres per second, was still strong enough to clock 15.41sec, a quick time for April.

Horsham's Sara Tomlins, who has had to marry her winter training with studies at Bath, took advantage of the opportunity for some concentrated workouts and was rewarded with a personal best 39.73sec.

Heptathlete Julie Bennett, who teaches at the Cardinal Newman School in Hove and is hoping to gain a place in this year's Commonwealth Games team, used the trip to hone her disciplines and managed a promising leap of 5.84m into a head wind in the long jump.

It was not a sparkling year for Sussex in the London Marathon. There were several steady performances and disappointments.

The major let down was South of England steeplechase champion Pat Davoren in his marathon debut.

Davoren said: "I was well on schedule at the half distance, which I went through in 66 minutes. I thought I was going quite well but I cramped around 15 miles and from then on things just fell apart. It was my first and certainly my last marathon."

Fellow debutant Kevin Holland (Crawley) had missed the cross-country season following a hernia operation. With only eight weeks preparation for the event, he finished outside three hours.

It was left to Sussex half-marathon champion Husseyin Ibrahim (Brighton and Hove) to lead the Sussex challenge, as he had 12 months ago.

Despite doubts he would run due to a calf problem, Ibrahim finished 83rd in 2hrs.34min. 31sec, nearly two minutes clear of clubmate Paul Prosser, who had an excellent run to clock 2hr.36min.23sec.

Nicky Brenchley led the Sussex women home in 96th in 3hr.9min.56sec.