A Wharfedale man who ran in the New York marathon with his pals from Emmerdale is set to keep on running.

John Livesley, 50, who works at Yorkshire Television, took part in the 26-mile marathon in November last year in aid of the TV Times Leukaemia Research Fund.

The keen athlete is a member of a running team that includes actor Chris Chittell, better known as scheming Eric Pollard and Glenda McKay, who used to play Rachel in the soap.

Mr Livesley, of The Homestead, Menston, said: "The actual running is difficult but the atmosphere and the encouragement from the New York people was so superb it was unbelievable. It is still hard to do but the crowd are amazing - and they made it bearable. I will not forget it for the rest of my life. The feeling of achievement is fantastic when you can look at the course and say I did it."

The team, who occasionally train together if there is a long break in filming, take part in numerous events throughout the year to raise funds for the charity.

Mr Livesley said: "We raised somewhere in the region of £7,000. When you raise that kind of money at one event it is a lot but that fund raising is happening all year round."

Mr Livesley maintains optimum fitness levels with regular runs. He said: "You have got to programme yourself. Finding the time when you are a working person is difficult. I go in the mornings because I work different hours."

Mr Chittell said: "You achieve two things. To take part you have to enjoy running - and of course you are doing something good by accruing money for the Research Fund.

"The last six miles of any run are always demanding and you say to yourself why am I doing this - but my friend John Livesley was somewhere in the crowd and I knew that I had to beat him."

l Pictured here are Chris Chittell (on the left) and John Livesley (022-01AM).

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.