BLISTERS, sunburn, and a broken ankle did nothing to deter a first time marathon runner from crossing the finish line at the London Marathon.
David Crean of Hanworth was given some words of wisdom at the starting line from former Olympic triple jump champion Jonathan Edwards who told him to 'keep looking forward and don't look down at your feet and it will fly past.'
The determined 30-year-old put his best foot forward for 13 miles of the race but suffered an injury to his ankle at the halfway point, last Sunday.
The champion kept on going and walked the rest of the race course to cross the finishing line in a gruelling eight hours and 30 minutes and picked up his medal.
"At 13 miles I did something to my ankle and had to walk the rest of the way," said Mr Crean. "It was like a massive street party for 26 miles. Everywhere you went had live music, and people cheering your name, asking for high fives and giving you sweets as you run - it was absolutely out of this world. The best site you can see came at 26 miles, when you had around 285 yards left and you see Buckingham Palace."
In the days after the marathon, he took some time off to recover and went back to work in Swindon on Wednesday.
He is chuffed to have raised more than £1,300 for chosen charity Visually Impaired Children Take Action (VICTA) which help buy everyday equipment such as phones with large buttons and white canes.
Mr Crean came across the charity through his work for PGL (Peter Gordon Lawrence, founder of the company) which provides day trips and adventure holidays for children to give parents and carers some relief.
Sponsor David at www.virginmoneygiving.com/DavidCrean
