FIREMAN Rene Street did Southall proud when he crossed the finish line at the New York City Marathon.

Mr Street, who is based at fire station in High Street, clocked up a finishing time of five hours, 33 minutes and 33 seconds, no mean feat considering he ran in full fire gear.

The father-of-one said he would have finished earlier but he was stopped several times by New Yorkers asking him to pose for pictures at the event on November 6.

He said: “It was awesome. There was a tiny bit of stress with the admin but the run was fantastic. The whole experience was amazing. The Americans take their running very seriously. There were lots of runners decked out in all their slick, hi-tech running gear but I only counted about five other people besides me in fancy dress and we were all British.”

Mr Street, who has run the London Marathon eight times, said he had plenty of encouragement from the crowds: “I had lots of people cheering me on when they saw the fire gear. The best bit was knowing I was representing the fraternity of fire fighters as it had been ten years since 9/11.

“When people spoke to me they couldn’t believe I’d run the full 26 miles in about 35 lbs worth of gear. Everyone was lovely, though. They were just as nice as the crowd for the London marathon. I might even consider going back.”

And Mr Street has been able to raise about £1,700 so far for charity, with an eventual target of £2,000. Proceeds will to Cancer Research and Cry, which helps young people who suffer from cardiac illnesses.

You can visit Mr Street’s charity page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ReneStreet999

The overall men’s finisher at the marathon, the largest in the world, was Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai, with a finishing time of two hours, five minutes and six seconds.