By Graham Britton. TWO lifeguards were glad they swapped swimming trunks for running shoes on Sunday having excelled in the Great West Run. Tom Merson and Felicity Elliot, 22, from Exmouth Beach Rescue Club, finished in second and sixth position respective

By Graham Britton

TWO lifeguards were glad they swapped swimming trunks for running shoes on Sunday having excelled in the Great West Run.

Tom Merson and Felicity Elliot, 22, from Exmouth Beach Rescue Club, finished in second and sixth position respectively in the 13 mile half marathon.

Twenty-three-year-old Tom, of St Johns Road, Exmouth - and the senior men's competition winner - smashed the race record.

"It was a bit of a shame that I did not have the legs at the end of the race," he said.

Tom, a lifeguard at the club for more than three years, added: "I was very pleased to have come in second place and also to have broken the record."

Nigel Snowshall, the founder of the club, said: "Both Tom and Felicity performed well.

"To be a lifeguard you have to be fit and they have proved to be just that.