In reply to your request for London marathon stories, heres mine.

My name is Mark Hancock, I'm a 40-year-old HGV driver from Porthill, and this year's London Marathon was my 3rd marathon (2nd London) and i ran to raise funds for The Douglas macmillan Hospice in memory of my dad, i think ive raised somewhere around £900-£1000.

As ever it was a fantastic atmosphere, with brilliant crowd support all around the 26.2 mile course, it was very warm, which made the going really tough and i struggled from mile 22.

But I dug in and the amazing crowd support along the embankment and Birdcage Walk,kept me going and i managed to cross the finish line in 4hours 55 mins.

It's a brilliant feeling to cross that line, and I'd recommend it to anyone. I've already applied for a place next year !!

In the attached picture, im on the left, the other guy is a pal of mine who was also running with me.

Sent in by reader Mark Hancock, of The Elms, Porthill

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