The capital was at its best on Sunday as hundreds of thousands flocked to see more than 32,000 take part in the London Marathon. The News Shopper's brave trio Emma Coutts-Wood, Paul Lagan and Lucy Brinicombe ran the full 26 miles for charity. Exhausted reporter LUCY BRINICOMBE limped into the office afterwards to tell all ...

DESPITE the exhaustion and the pain, Sunday has to go down as one of the best days of my life.

It was a roller coaster ride of highs and lows where the crowd carried you on and where something from deep inside willed you to place one foot in front of the other again and again and again.

The starter cannon went off and all the runners cheered at Greenwich Park I waited for five minutes with a couple of rhinos until I eventually passed the starting line 15 minutes later.

Crowds cheered even then. Kids offered sweets or held their hands out for runners to high-five as they passed. Stereos blasted out music, live bands played outside pubs and DJs mixed music to spur us on.

And then there were the "Oggy Oggy Oggies" from the crowd and the inevitable hearty response from us, regardless of how breathless we were.

The best moments other than seeing the finish line were spotting familiar faces in the crowd and turning right towards Tower Bridge at the 12th mile.

Seeing the bridge made it more real and the noise was mind-blowing. For most of us, this was the nearest we were ever going to get to celebrity status.

But the elation was soon marred by the long plod towards the Docklands where other runners were making their return towards the city, having run the seven miles we were yet to do.

I felt so desperate. Running 26 miles seemed so irrational and my legs were so heavy but the crowds lifted me to go on.

The last five miles are a daydream. Knowing I was near the end, I had a burst of energy and a wave of determination took hold of me.

As I ran up the Mall, a fellow runner congratulated me and I him. The crowd was going mad and the feeling of relief, of utter disbelief as I crossed the finish line simply can not be described.

For more pictures of the fun-filled event, log on to www.newsshopper.co.uk

l Lucy went through the finishing line at four hours, 34 minutes, closely followed by Emma at four hours, 45 minutes. Paul Lagan completed his ninth London Marathon in six hours 47 minutes. He has not tallied how much he has raised for Alzheimer's.

Emma has raised £600 so far for the NSPCC and a special care baby unit at Darent Valley Hospital.

Lucy expects to raise around £1,000 for the Terrence Higgins Trust and Gravesend's homeless centre, House of Mercy.

Anyone wanting to donate can call 01689 885715 or visit www.newsshopper.co.uk