A SUPER-FIT company executive who ran the London Marathon, died suddenly at the age of 41 from a rare heart condition.

Father-of-two Kenneth Byers died in January from cardiac arrhythmia, a condition which only affects up to 300 apparently fit people every year.

An inquest into his death at Tynedale Magistrates' Court, Hexham, Northumberland, heard how the death of the fit and active family man had stunned his wife, Judith.

Mr Byers, who was an operations director for a County Durham plastics company, had run the London Marathon and cycled from Lands End to John O'Groats.

A post-mortem examination by pathologist Dr Alan Rogers could find no abnormalities to explain Mr Byers' death.

After consultations with experts at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital in London he concluded that the most likely cause of death was a cardiac arrhythmia.

Dr Rogers said that the condition could be hereditary, but it could be acquired.

South Northumberland coroner Anthony Smith recorded a verdict of death by natural causes.