I'm delighted to tell you all that I finished the London Marathon in an official time of 3.55.20, actual running time 3:53.10. I managed to run from start to finish non-stop despite having picked up a cold the day before. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me, when all the money is in I should have raised about £2300.

Sunday morning up at 6.10 and I feel good. We get to Blackheath by 8 and I meet up with several friends from Whizz-Kidz and before long we are standing on the start in Greenwich park ready to go. The gun goes off and we are soon moving and unbeliev-ably it only takes 2.10 to reach the official start line and we are under way on the 2000 London Marathon. I start steady at a 9min mile pace and to my surprise it is not too crowded, at three mile we merge with the other start but it causes no problem. At 4 miles the pace quickens and I settled into an 8.40 pace feeling comfortable. We pass Cutty Sark at 6 miles, the crowds are very thick and the atmosphere is electric, but at around 7 miles my forehead starts to sweat and the cold is starting to come out. At 8 I'm feeling rather uncomfort-able so instead of speeding up as I had planned I stayed at the same pace running with two other Whizz-Kidz runners dressed as Nuns.

The miles tick away and soon we are crossing Tower Bridge at 12.5 miles. I'm start-ing to feel better as we now head for the Isle of dogs. I pass through half way at 1.57 still running at 8.40 a mile average. At 15 miles last year I started to suffer and had to back off but this year I am still feeling strong. The 18-mile mark is the next test where my legs started to hurt badly last year and when many runners hit the wall as they call it. I reach 18 and cannot believe I still feel strong, my pace has dropped slightly but this was due to the congestion. The crowds were very thick causing the course to narrow down to ten feet in places and with some runners starting to slow and stop it was dif-ficult to maintain the pace. We leave the Isle-of-Dogs and as we go through a tunnel a band is playing the Marathon theme tune and it spurs everyone on. I knew some when I was going to start hurting and at 21 miles my legs are starting to feel the strain and at this point I wish I had put in more long distant runs. With only 5 miles to go I know I am still well on target to beat the 4 hours on the official clock which keeps me going. I back off the pace a little to 9.50 a mile but I am still passing many others. We pass under Tower Bridge and hit the dreaded cobbles and the carpet seems to make no difference.

Back on the road and I pass through 23 miles remembering how rough I felt at 8 and cannot believe I've made it this far at this pace. I'm now doing sums in my head, can I make 3.50, in theory yes but in practice no. I still decide to quicken the pace and get the best time I can. For me I'm now on the run in to the finish and at 24 mile I put my head down and go for it just watching the legs in front of me and moving left or right when they get in my way. What a difference to last year when everyone was passing me. I wanted to finish strong and my winter training is now paying off. Big Ben looms up and we turn into Bird Cage Walk, my pace is getting quicker, 800m to go and I know I've done it. We turn the corner to Buckingham Palace and I'm feeling good with just enough left for a sprint finish, I run wide to the left where the road is clear and wave to the crowds, as I head to the line the time on the clock is 3.55. I cross the line and stop running for the first time since we left the start, I've done it, I've broken 4 hours!

Sprinting for the finish was not the best of ideas and just after finishing I could hardly walk having pulled a muscle in my stump but it was worth it. My leg and stump were perfect the whole way and no blisters or any sign of rubbing which is a credit to today's technology. On my foot my toes were tender but no real problems, lots of Vaseline pre-vented the blisters this year. I recovered quickly over the next few days and I have now set my sights on running the New York Marathon in November.

Antony