Callous burglars stole jewellery and a pair of marathon medals earned raising money for Cystic Fibrosis charities in a daring daylight raid at a home in west Watford.

Mick Frost completed the Flora London Marathon in April and the 40th New York Marathon earlier this month to raise money in honour of his niece Megan, who suffers from the illness.

But yesterday afternoon (Monday), he returned home to find his wife Caroline's jewellery had been snatched with the medals after a pair of burglars ransacked their home.

He said: “If someone thinks they are valuable they are very much mistaken. They are worth more sentimentally than value-wise.”

Mick, 34, returned to Pretoria Road at 6.50pm yesterday to find a brick in his front garden and broken glass on his living room floor.

Then as he walked into the house he saw drawers were open and the couple's belongings were strewn across the floor.

A neighbour, believing they had not yet returned from New York, thought noises coming from next door were family or friends feeding their pet cat, sometime between 3pm and 3.30pm.

But she was startled when she heard a bang and opened her front door to find two men walking out of the adjacent house.

Mick, who works for a life insurance company, said: “They have come in for something specific which I think was a car key because they have emptied all our keys on the table and not found it. They have only taken all Caroline's jewellery and for some reason, because they are not worth anything, my marathon medals.”

Caroline, 27, an after-sales manager, said she first thought it was “just kids” who had smashed a window .

She said: “They had been through every room and every drawer. It was horrible. When I realised the medals were gone it was gutting. It's the worst thing they could have taken and they've got the least value to them. They're the sort of thing you keep forever.”

It was in October 2008 that Mick and his friends Daryl Frost and Tommy Garratt decided to run two marathons in one year to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis.

They have now raised more than £6,000, with a further £2,000 for Cancer Research.

Mick said: “Training was very tough. I don't think I would have been able to do it without Caroline helping me and support from family and friends. But the one thing that kept me going was my niece.”

Mick completed the London Marathon in April in five hours 43 minutes after he was forced to walk the final seven miles with a stress fracture in his right foot.

In New York on November 7, he completed his second ever marathon in five hours 16 minutes despite suffering a recurrence of the foot fracture that left him walking the final three miles.

He said: “I just wanted to get round and do it for Megan. She's really proud of me but she hasn't seen the medal.”

The burglars are described as white men, in their 20s and with local accents.

Anyone with information should telephone Hertfordshire Police on 0845 3300222.

Donations can still be made to support Mick's campaign for Cystic Fibrosis. Visit www.justgiving.com/2009_a_race_odyssey.