ALL eyes will be focused on the Virgin London marathon this weekend but it is not the only marathon taking place in the country on Sunday, writes KEVIN FAHEY.

Not all roads lead to the capital and Old Town runner Stuart Temple will forego the busy M4 to London and head instead up to the north west to Lancashire for the Blackpool event.

“I will be going up north while everyone else will be heading to London,” said Temple, who is a member of Sinn Allstars.

“I wanted to do something different and I have never been to Blackpool before so it should be interesting.

“I am really looking forward to the race.”

The two events couldn’t be more different. While over 100,000 people apply for one of the 40,000 start slots in London just 586 entries have been lodged for Blackpool.

London attracts a global elite field and offers live coverage on BBC within a huge media presence; Blackpool is for club runners and won’t earn a single line in the national media.

Add in the crowds, the international landmarks like the Cutty Sark, Tower Bridge and Buckingham Palace and it is easy to see why London is one of the world’s biggest races. Then again, Blackpool does have the famous tower and a scenic, flat two-lap seafront course.

“This will be my second marathon after making my debut in the Bristol to Bath race last year,” added Temple, who works as an administrator at the Great Western Hospital.

“It is a flat course and it will be my first fast one so hopefully I can improve on my time.”

Temple completed the inaugural Bristol to Bath event, which included some really tough climbs in the second half, in a respectable time of 2hrs 58mins 29secs.

Since then the 35-year-old has continued to make steady improvements culminating in his recent victory – the first of his short career - in the Devizes half marathon which followed on from his personal best of 77mins 55secs which he set in the Bath half.

That suggests Temple should finish well inside three hours but the marathon is notoriously difficult to predict – a bit like the prospect of fine weather and a still day on the north west coast.

If conditions are benign and Temple is feeling good then a personal best time should be on the cards but if the wind is whipping in off the Irish Sea it could be a long race.