SPIRIT of Monmouth’s Marina Wright, Vicky Roberts and Julia Evans headed to the mighty London Marathon on Sunday for the 45th race and biggest ever, with the 56,640 finishers beating last November’s New York Marathon.

The sun was heating up before they had even started, and the atmosphere was buzzing, with music pumping, and runners nervously waiting and preping themselves.

Vicky gained a good for age spot and fundraised for The Brain Tumour Research charity – a charity close to her family’s heart after her uncle Marc Wilding was diagnosed with terminal Glioblastoma Multiform last April, a devastating diagnosis for him, the family and his friends.

An operation got rid of one of the tumours and radiotherapy and chemotherapy in June helped Marc make the start line alongside Vicky, his wife Emma, daughter Brooke and close friends, who all ran the marathon and as a team raised over £30,000 for Brain Tumour Research which will fund over 10 days of research.

With the intense heat seeing many runners collapsing to the sides and needing medical attention, Marc incredibly made it round in 5.46.57.

“The heat is not something us Brits are used to, so this caused a lot of runners to change their race plan,” said Vicky.

“Although an enjoyable start it was very crowded with runners at all different paces, dressed in costumes and setting world records, weaving in and out of each other.

“The atmosphere was buzzing and amazing, an amazing experience to be involved in, but the heat was just crazy.”

She herself started to struggle at mile 20 with severe cramp, which forced her to stop stretch, walk, jog, then repeat, every mile until the finish .

“I've never had anything like that before and it really got me down, it was so painful,” added Vicky.

“I cried a lot and became very emotional remembering why I was doing this run, then with the support of the crowd shouting me, pushing me, telling me that I am strong and that I can do it, I managed to finish in 3.39.06 – not what I was hoping for, but I finished my third official London Marathon.”

Marina gained the Spirit ballot spot and thanked the club for allowing her to experience the greatest running event in the world, finishing in 4.41.12.

“London, you were absolutely brutal. It was hot and I was unwell but the crowd carried strugglers like me along with cheer, water, ice, lollies and lots of encouragement.”

Julia – one of Spirit's newest members – gained her London Marathon spot through a charity called Contact, which supports families with disabled children.

She only started running in January and was a complete novice, but since joining Spirit, she has gained a lot of confidence and thanked the club for their support and helping with some of her first longer runs.

High-fiving the supporters as she made her way around the ionic route, she finished in 5.47.26 and was pleased to come ahead of Joe Wicks!

To help continue fundraising for Vicky's charity go to https://www.justgiving.com and search for ‘Vicky’s fundraiser for Brain Tumour Research’.

To support Julia’s fundraiser for Contact go to https://www.justgiving.com and search for ‘Chris and Julia’s Marathon for Contact’.