A runner completed his 33rd London Marathon last weekend, having raced in every single one so far.

Jeffrey Gordon, 79, is one of just 15 Ever Presents, who have run in every London Marathon since the event began in 1981.

Mr Gordon, a Chingford councillor in the 1960s before it became part of Waltham Forest, said he was a little embarrassed of his time, but bumping into fellow Ever Present Ken Jones, a retired Chingford policeman, at the start of the race made up for it.

Mr Jones, also 79, joined Mr Gordon and tens of thousands of other competitors on the 26.2-mile route through the capital on Sunday.

Mr Gordon, who remains a practicing solicitor as much as he does an active runner, said it was great to see his erstwhile rival after the pair of them competed for trophies in various events around Chingford.

He said: “He recognised me straight away and came up to say hello.

“We started the race together but I couldn’t keep up with his pace. It was lovely to catch up for that mile or so though. We spoke about people we both remember from our club days.”

Mr Gordon was a member of the Chingford Athletics Club in the 1980s and Mr Jones a member of the Orion Harriers, though they have since moved away from the area with their families.

The pair were always trying to outdo each other, with Mr Jones’s fastest marathon run at 2 hours 41 minutes, Mr Gordon’s just a minute slower.

The solicitor said: “It was within the pre-war international standard. We were pretty fast. I would always be keeping an eye out for him in a race.

“It does feel special to have competed in all of them. It’s a brilliant race. It’s very big, even when it started there were 10,000 people.

“It was very exciting, the New York marathon had inspired everyone. The race had a great atmosphere and the crowd really cheered us on, they do that especially if you’re going slow.

But he is not sure how much longer he will carry on competing.

He said: “I shall race next year and after that we’ll see. I work very long hours and it does get quite tiring. But it is a great experience to have been in each one so far.”

If anyone would like to contact Mr Gordon who knows him from his time in Chingford they can email him at his wife's address: shirley.hale@gmail.com.