TO my supporters, some of whom were anonymous, as I tackled the Clarendon Marathon last week – I DID IT!! With God's help and an awful lot of prayer support my knees felt FINE the whole way round and I didn't fall. I completed it in five hours and two minutes.

It rapidly became clear that my aim of 4.5 hours was totally unrealistic.

The route is described on the Runnersworld website as: "The Clarendon Way Marathon claims to be the Carlsberg of cross country marathons. It's not for the faint-hearted!"

I totally agree, it was jolly tough but with the amazing local support in Pitton, a friendly face in Houghton and Doric, my Mum and Caspar who kept popping up along the route, I smiled the whole way round and reached the finishing point without mishap.

I appear to have come 305th out of 409 marathon runners so not bad for someone my age (55).

I have been overwhelmed by the sponsorship from you all; family and friends both local and far afield have contributed to a total that far outstrips my target and is still rising even after the event. JustGiving is at £2,529.09 and cash and cheques from my local friends is £409.20 which makes a staggering total of £2,938.29 which is utterly amazing.

As the Churchwarden of St. Peter's Church I can safely say that the PCC will be astounded that one crazy woman's dream of extravagant thanksgiving to God has resulted in so much money in the bank.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

My stiff hips are a small price to pay for such a marvellous outcome.

Sara Bossom

Pitton