Two Shropshire runners raise cash for causes in London Marathon

Nikki Marsh completed the marathon in aid of St John Ambulance and in memory of her friend's son, Arthur, who died last year.

St John Ambulance's KIDS special ambulance unit transferred two-year-old Arthur to the children's intensive care unit at Royal Stoke University Hospital.

Nikki said the St John Ambulance staff helped to make a difficult journey much more comfortable for Arthur and his parents, Alison and Nick Mullis.

She said sadly, there was nothing they could do once he was in Stoke and he died of pneumonia.

The 40-year-old maths teacher from Cockshutt, near Ellesmere, raised more than £5,000 by completing the marathon in five hours and 30 minutes.

She said: "I really started feeling it on around mile 20, but there was no way I was giving up. I wanted to finish the course for Arthur."

Meanwhile, Pam Sherwin, from Market Drayton, completed her first London Marathon to raise more than £2,500 for a cancer charity.

Pam finished in five hours, 51 minutes and 28 seconds.

She said she thought the whole event was "absolutely fantastic" and was going to re-apply to run again next year.

"I am really pleased that I completed the race in less than six hours," she said.

"I just wanted to get to the finish line and had no real time in mind.

"There were 10 of us from the Market Drayton running club. I started off running by myself and saw some of the others later on.

"The hardest part for me was about 35km into the marathon. I felt very sick.

"I spoke to St John Ambulance and they told me to eat something. After I did that I felt better and carried on.

"The best bit was finishing crossing the finish line and crossing Tower Bridge."

Pam said she decided to take part in the marathon as her husband, Keith, died of cancer 15 years ago and would have been 65, so she wanted to mark that.