MY LONDON MARATHON STORY

HANNAH BRITT, 28, is a writer from London. She has been training for the Virgin Money London Marathon, raising money for Cancer Research UK AS I watched the London Marathon from the sidelines last year tears ran down my face.

Seeing the runners of all ages and abilities push themselves to the limit to run 26.2 miles was incredible.

There were so many different stories. Some were running for loved ones, others for charity, some were trying for personal bests and some were clearly in pain. It was awe-inspiring.

In fact I was so inspired that I decided to sign up myself. I chose to run for Cancer Research UK because of the vital work it does. And so began one of the biggest learning curves of my life. While I have always loved running it turns out training for a marathon is hard. But after getting my race confirmation last November, month by month I upped my distances. I swelled with pride as my 5k became 10k, then 20k. Soon I was running half-marathons every weekend and loving it. I had some setbacks – trips to A&E revealed one of my legs is longer than the other, causing me pain on long runs. After bleeding through my shoes I had my gait analysed by running specialists Asics who told me my shoes were two sizes too small. Then there was the snow, the rain, the early mornings, the muscle spasms.

But when all I wanted to do was stay in bed, knowing I was running to raise money for Cancer Research kept me going – as did the amazing people I met along the way.

Then last week came my biggest setback yet.

When a pain developed in my leg it was initially dismissed as a damaged nerve and I winced my way through a 10-mile run.

Then an MRI scan showed I had a stress fracture on my hip and my marathon journey came to an abrupt halt. So this weekend, crutch in hand, I will be watching once more from the sidelines.

But far from being sad I’m proud of how far I’ve come and the money I’ve raised. And next year I’ll come back stronger and run the marathon.

London, I’ll see you on the finish line. A SERUM to repair skin in one day, La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5, £37, contains hyaluronic acid. Stockists: laroche -posay.co.uk