A husband and wife from Cobham are on track to becoming the fastest couple in history, having both run the London marathon in a combined record time.

Phil Wicks, 29, contracted meningitis when he was 10 months old, only taking up running when he went to university, and entered the London marathon to raise money for Meningitis Research.

His wife, Emily, 28, has previously undergone heart surgery and also suffered a collapsed lung while running for Great Britain 18 months ago.

The determined couple, of Riverside Gardens, are awaiting official confirmation from Guinness World Records that their combined time of four hours, 58 minutes and 22 seconds makes them the fastest couple in history.

The current record was set at the Tokyo marathon in February this year, at a time of five hours and 28 minutes.

Mr Wicks, 29, a financial adviser, said: “I ran two hours, 19 minutes and seven seconds but was aiming for two hours 14, so was a bit disappointed with my result. Marathon is tough and sometimes things don’t go to plan.

“Unfortunately I ran from 10km to the finish on my own which is not ideal when trying to run a fast time. It’s much easier if you have other runners around you to share the pacing and run together.”

His wife, 28, a qualified actuary, was thrilled with her time of two hours, 39 minutes and 15 seconds in her debut marathon, having aimed for two hours 40 minutes. Mr Wicks said he and his wife were aware of the record before the race, but that their main focus was on their individual performances.

He said: “If we’ve broken the record then that will be a nice bonus.

“We train every day, twice a day and also swim once a week and do gym work and cross training to supplement our athletics training. We both work full-time so all our training is fit around a nine-to-five working day lifestyle.”

The couple, who married in August 2010, train under the guidance of different coaches and run for different clubs; Mr Wicks for Belgrave Harriers and Mrs Wicks for Aldershot, Farnham and District AC.

The athletes both run for Great Britain and are now targeting the marathon distance with a view to be selected for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.

The couple both plan to run the Frankfurt marathon in October and hope to improve their personal bests, which could lower the word record further.