THEY trained hard and ran hard and even when the going got tough they kept going. And despite the pain and tears along the way it was all smiles when the London Marathon was finally over. The Adver caught up with some of our local runners...

Greg Wells, of Shrivenham Road, was delighted yesterday to find his fundraising is now close to £4,300.

The 51-year-old was one of the first to speak to the Adver on Sunday after he completed the course in three hours and 49 minutes in aid of the NSPCC.

Greg who originally thought that he had raised around £2,000 called us to share the good news that he had raised twice as much as he thought.

Natalie Chapman, 32, of Abbey Meads, got round in just over four hours and 44 minutes, although with all the weaving between other runners her GPS tracker says she actually covered 27.8 miles.

Natalie, who teaches at Isambard School, was the highest solo fundraiser for the Make-a-Wish Foundation this year – she raised almost £4,500, smashing her original target of £2,000.

She said: “The atmosphere was amazing, I felt like some sort of Olympic athlete as I ran round.

“I’m still on a bit of a high, the race was harder than I thought it was going to be but it was still good.”

When she finished the race, Natalie treated herself to the unusual combination of champagne and mini eggs.

Her medal, which she worked so hard to earn, is currently round her little boy’s neck.

“I’ve probably lost it for good,” she said.

“He thinks he deserves a medal for waiting for me for so long.”

Brothers Ian, 36, and Mark Kenna, 42, were far less well-rested than the rest of the field when they lined up at the start line on Sunday.

The pair, who are running a series of events this year to raise money for Cancer Research UK, had completed the Brighton Marathon only seven days earlier.

Mark said: “That was an incredible experience, 16 weeks of training, running the Brighton Marathon last week and completing the London Marathon a week later.

“We started slow and strong, there were moments along the way but the crowd were just incredible.

“Running through this wonderful city, so many landmarks, everyone was so supportive.

“There were people standing on top of the bus stops, Ibiza dance music from a balcony - there was a dinosaur running, a guy with a washing machine on his back, several rhinos.

“We saw Jesus, with a cross on his back, running bare foot - we saw so many people running for such great causes, it was a truly humbling experience.”

Next up for the brothers will be a 100km endurance race in July – but first they plan to take a well-earned week off, or perhaps two.

Alison Richardson, from Shrivenham, sailed through her first London Marathon, clocking up a time of 5:59 and raising more than £1,400 for childrens’ charity the NSPCC.

Colour technician Alison, 44, said she was exhausted but exhilarated to have completed the iconic marathon.

“It was an incredible feeling racing down the Mall, words can’t describe it,” she said.

“And it was amazing crossing the line and seeing all my friends. There were a lot of tears.

“You just find this new kind of determination within you that makes you so focused on that finish line. You won’t stop for anything. And I’m so lucky to have had a good run.

“I hit the wall at about 17, 18 miles, that’s when everything is hurting, your body has given all its energy and you know you still have a relatively long way to go. It was good to be spurred on by other NSPCC runners and get those few words of encouragement.

“I’m a bit bruised but so happy to have received my medal.”

She celebrated with a hot cup of tea and a Burger King.

Libby Jackson, a programme manager at the Swindon-based UK Space Agency, completed the marathon dressed in a replica space suit.

Spurred on by a good luck tweet from astronaut Tim Peake himself, Libby got round successfully to do her bit for Team Astronaut and raise money for the Prince’s Trust.

She said: “I got to the end, so I was happy with that – the suit was actually wonderfully comfortable which was a pleasant surprise.

“I knew the crowd would be amazing but I was surprised with the number of other runners who came up to wish me luck and have a chat, that was great.”

The combined team from the UK and European Space Agencies set themselves the ambitious target of raising £10,000.

Libby said: “Our fundraising is going well but there is still a bit more to be done to hit our target so we would certainly welcome any more support.”