RUNNERS returned home to York and North and East Yorkshire last night exhausted but jubilant after raising thousands of pounds for charity after completing the London Marathon.

York chef Steve Holding, whose daughter Ruby lost her sight last year after being diagnosed with a rare brain tumour, ran for the Royal National Institute of Blind People.

He told The Press that, including previous fundraising activities, he had raised more than £7,000, compared with his original £2,000 target.

“The race was tough – tougher than I expected,” said Steve, who runs the Pig & Pastry on Bishopthorpe Road with his wife, Julia. “There were some dark moments at about 19 miles when you hit the wall, particularly as it happened to be in a particularly bleak part of London.

“But the crowds generally were unbelievable, cheering me on and giving me high fives.”

He said the first thing he did after completing the race in just over six hours was to ring Ruby to tell her, and she had screamed: “Well done!”

For mum-of-two Sharon Lynn, 39, a computer programmer from Heworth, York, it was her second marathon for which she had spent the past four months training.

She completed the course in 3hrs 52 mins 43 secs and has so far raised about £350 for McMillan Cancer Care.

“It was absolutely brilliant,” she said. “The crowd and atmosphere were amazing. I just didn’t want to hit the wall, and I didn’t. My legs ache and I have a couple of blisters but otherwise I’m fine.”

Gulf War veteran Martin Wintermeyer, 50, of Skelton, running his first marathon, said: “It went very well. I completed it in 3hrs, 55 mins, a minute faster than my target. The crowds were wonderful and the organisation was great.”

He said he had raised at least £6,000 towards a £50,000 project to renovate the walled garden at the Leonard Cheshire home, Alne Hall, near Easingwold.

Mark Hayton, of Helmsley, of local band One Night Only, took time off from recording their new album to run and raise funds for Leukaemia Care and tweeted afterwards: “Beat my target time by 14 seconds....relieved, and knackered!”

Matt Briggs, of Strensall, who shed more than 17st in two years, was part of the Slimming World team raising money for Cancer Research UK. Like thousands of others, he wore a black ribbon in honour of the Boston Marathon bombing victims and along with all the runners yesterday observed a 30 second silence at the start.

Matt, who finished in a time of 4hrs 50mins 59 secs, said: “There was all this noise, but when the whistle blew it went quiet immediately,” he said.

“I think people were determined to show what happened in Boston wouldn’t stop them. The atmosphere was amazing. I really enjoyed it. It was the first time I have ever run that far. The most I’ve done in training was 20 miles.”