Following the prestigious London Marathon last Sunday, we caught up with some of our inspiring, running readers to find how much they raised for charity, how fast they completed the 26.2-mile journey through the capital, and how they found the monumental and emotional experience.

Using the finishing time she achieved in the 2015 Berlin Marathon as motivation, Lyndsay Wood, 28, smashed the biggest one-day fundraising event of the year in just 4hrs and 13 minutes – a remarkable 77 minutes faster than her previous personal best – and raised an admirable £2,150 for children’s charity Action Medical Research.

She said: ‘‘The whole experience was absolutely phenomenal - the route, the crowds and the atmosphere were even more amazing than I expected.’’

Running for the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity, Reverend Rod Reid, 39, completed the course in 5hrs and 38mins and generated nearly £9,000 for the organisation.

He said: ‘‘The atmosphere on the day was unforgettable, the marshals and crowd were fantastic and I met some amazing people on the way round, running for incredible causes.

‘‘A huge thank you to all those who have supported me, I couldn't have done it without them.’’

Married couple Jody Wilkey, 43, and Lee Wilkey, 48, conquered the world-famous road race with a combined time of 10hrs and 25minutes and were able to donate more than £5,585 to Farleigh Hospice.

Jody said: ‘‘Lee and I had the most amazing day, the crowds and support from friends and family kept us going and the fantastic Team Farleigh supported us the whole way around.’’

After hitting a wall at about 22 miles in and drastically losing energy, Jane Wilson, 57, crossed the finish line in 5hours and 37minutes, following the ‘‘unbelievable support from complete strangers willing you on and Michelle’s Running Group.’’

She managed to raise almost £1,000 for cancer charity The Eve Appeal and is delighted she can now say she has run the London Marathon.

Stuart Clark’s ‘‘fantastic experience’’ running the marathon took just over 5hrs and resulted in £2,800 being raised for the Edith Borthwick Special School, while Kelly Calver, 42, ‘‘ticked off a bucket list achievement’’ by finishing the road race in 5hrs and 44 minutes and raising £3,500 for Whizz-Kidz charity.

Pride of Britain nominee William Arnold, 40, running for the hospice that cared for his late wife Katie, raised more than £1622 for Farleigh Hospice after completing his second London Marathon in 6hrs and 36minutes.

Mother and daughter running duo Jo Eldred, 64, and Lisa Christian, 37, both smashed their previous personal bests by achieving times of 4hours and 59minutes and 4hours and 26minutes.

Jo, a retired chemotherapy nurse, raised £2,600 for Riding for the Disabled, while Lisa, a deputy head teacher at Beckers Green Primary School, donated £500 for Great Ormond Street.

William said: ‘‘It was a lot harder than last year and my knees gave up around half way.

‘‘But I was happy to finish, get the medal and raise some more money for charity and the crowds were great and I had loads of amazing support.’’

Vic Bojan, 69, completed the race in just 6hrs and 40mins and raised around £4,000 for Children with Cancer UK following the death of his grandson.

Read more about Vic's story here.

Back in Braintree, young runners felt part of the year’s biggest sporting event as they took part in a scaled down version of the London Marathon.

Great Notley’s Play and Resource Centre hosted a Children’s Mini Marathon for the fourth year in a row at the Discovery Centre and Park and raised more than £200 for the local children’s charity.