Richard Whitehead: My marathon effort

Richard Whitehead from Colwick got plenty of support from the crowd as he embarked on his fourth marathon in six weeks. The 31-year-old – who runs with prosthetic limbs after being born without legs below the knee – has raised about £30,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support since 2006.

On the morning of the marathon I was ready to rock and roll. I raced a lot over the past month but London was a race that I wanted to enjoy and do a great time!

In the morning I was up at my normal 5am crossing all the Ts and dotting all the Is. I did a live interview with a national radio station and set out for the race.

I raced to get a taxi to the nearest tube station and the taxi driver wanted to know all about my running - so much so that I didnt pay for the ride! I got on the tube to Maze Hill sharing stories about past runs with fellow runners.

I arrived at Maze Hill with still a 15 minute walk to the red starting area to go.It was great talking to runners that had seen me at other events or runners that just wanted to know my story!

45 minutes before the start, I made my way to the starting pens (the gates where you start from) and time ticked down. At 9.45am we were off! I felt great before the race and at the start felt fresh and was running well within myself.

I Set myself targets in the race and wanted to finish around 3.30-3.45 which would be around my personal best time.

There were thousands of spectators on the course shouting my name and cheering me on and because of that you fell the need to run faster!I met fellow runners that had seen my articles in the Evening Post on the way around the London Marathon course.

With two miles to go and the legs needing to finish the heart takes over and that gets you to the end. With 800 metres to go I was handed the English flag and ran in to the finish in three hours 22 mins.

This was one of the best races I have ever run with support that was out of this world! London really embraced the runners on Sunday and im thankful for that.

For more details visit www.marathonchamp.com or www.justgiving.com/richardwhitehead08.