Ward 5's Joy Shaw's first marathon was a mixture of fears and tears... and a sprint over the finishing line!! She was thrilled with her time of 4:27 at the London Marathon last Sunday.

She said: “It was absolutely amazing, the vibe, the crowd support – the whole experience. Very exciting and very moving”.

She made a brilliant £1,400 in just four weeks for the Forget Me Not Trust, with the only intention of raising a couple of hundred quid.

And she was overwhelmed with the lovely messages and generosity and she became more excited when her phone ‘pinged’ with as every new donation came through.

Here's her Marathon Day diary at all the key stages.

First thing

Felt like I was preparing to go to  the Last Supper. Strapping of stuff to my torso and the long walk from the Tube with hoards of other people all going the same way.

Start

Flipping perishing and worrying that I should have put long sleeves on! Blue lips and numb fingers not a great start. Itching to get going just to warm up!

7 miles

Warmed up nicely by now, fingers thawed and got a good pace going once I managed to dodge round the walls of people who were already walking. Relieved I've not got long sleeves on!

15 miles

The halfway point at Tower Bridge  was quite moving. You turn a corner and suddenly it's there. I felt myself welling up at this point but had to pull myself together in front of all those people. Plus you can't breathe! By 15 miles I had to get in 'the zone'. It was a struggle from 13-18. Still such a long way to go, so I was simply ticking off the miles and trying to enjoy the bands and the atmosphere.

22 miles

Only four more to go. 22 miles was a milestone. This was the furthest I had run, so the next bit was the 'unknown'.  I surprised myself that I was doing quite well time wise and the thought that it would all be over in less than an hour was quite overwhelming. Cue tears...

Finishing Line

Found some bizarre inner hidden strength and actually managed to sprint to the finish line. They tell you to hold hands with someone over the finish line, so I was frantically looking for someone to share this most special moment with, who would become a friend forever. I grabbed this girl's hand with a genuine warmth and friendship - but she let go within seconds of crossing!!. Pfft!!!!!!

The weirdest thing was that I got my phone out to ring Johnny straight away, and there were texts from people telling me what time I'd done. Within moments of finishing. I didn't even know myself. 

Oh, and the ballot entry for next year’s marathon opens on Monday if anyone is interested!!!

** Catch up with our London Marathon double act midwives, Selma Fitton and Dawn Dutton in next week's CHFT Weekly!