Congratulations and a huge “thank you” to the 119 runners who ran the 2013 London Marathon for CRY on Sunday 21st April.

We are very proud of you all and very grateful for your fantastic efforts to raise awareness and funds for CRY.

The team of 119 CRY runners comprised of 49 who ran with their own ballot places and 70 with places acquired by CRY – including media and celebrity places. Among our runners was CRY Patron and International Correspondent for ITV News, Bill Neely – who completed the marathon in aid of CRY for the 4th consecutive year in a time of 3 hours 16 minutes. This was despite an injury and having been in Boston until the Saturday prior to the Marathon, reporting on the Boston bombings.

The weather was perfect this year, plenty of sunshine but not too warm, and no rain! We had 4 CRY heart costume runners this year – Dorian Mead, Alan Blair, Chris Deal and Elise Fleetwood. We also had 14 runners from ‘The Squires Effect’, running in memory of Clare Squires who died at last year’s London Marathon.

CRY runners Alan and Emma Blair became Guinness World Record holders – Emma for the fastest time running in a nurse’s uniform (female); and Alan for the fastest time running as an internal organ (heart, male). Both completed the course in 3:48:34.

It was an incredible atmosphere once again, and an event which we are proud to be a part of.

At 8.30am, Ben Robinson (CRY Fundraising Team), Nat Jenkins (CRY Staff) and Nigel Bennett (CRY volunteer) headed to the start to meet the runners at the Red and Blue starts, whilst Karla Griffith (CRY myheart Coordinator) was at the Green Start to meet the Green start runners and wish them all good luck. Thank you to everyone who came to say hello.

Meanwhile, the suite at the Hilton Hotel, Green Park was being prepared with refreshments and couches for post-race massages; and the room being decorated with CRY banners, flags, balloons, bunting and displays. This was done by CRY staff Tony Hill, Cara MacMillan, Matt Oliver, Nicola Taylor and Rebecca Zouvani, with assistance from CRY volunteers Martin Appleby, Barbara and Jim Holland, Robert and Phil Eastty, Mark Blease and Jen Bashford – who were a great help and made the suite look very welcoming in preparation for our runners.

Volunteers and supporters Steve Jackson, Emma Brown, Mary Doogan, Alison Dalton, Lara Badger, Alice Burrell, Mark Wibberley, Terry Smith, Don Granner, Holly Walden, Maddy Fitzpatrick and our runners’ friends and families, kindly cheered for all of our runners at miles 18 and 23 and gave them the extra boost they needed to keep going.

Katy, Oliver and Lucy Turberville, together with Bob and Carol Finch and Abi Goch – also volunteers – waited with friendly faces at the finish area in Waterloo Place to offer CRY runners a seat, drink and snack whilst they waited for the CRY shuttle service to take them back to the Hilton Hotel.

CRY staff Tony Hill and Matt Oliver then collected our tired runners from the finish area and whisked them back to the hotel in minibus shuttles, where we were waiting to thank and congratulate them. Volunteers Mark Blease and Jen Bashford greeted each of our runners outside the hotel and welcomed them to our reception. The Hilton Hotel kindly provided hand towels for our runners as they entered the building.

The first CRY runner to cross the finish line and return to the hotel at 1.36pm was Deborah Steer, who finished in an incredible 3 hours and 3 minutes.

Gradually more and more runners came back, each receiving a well deserved round of applause from staff and volunteers before being photographed, interviewed and given a well-earned leg massage. In due course, the room was full of exhausted but elated runners and proud friends and family members sharing the highs and lows of the day.

After being checked-in by volunteers Barbara and Jim Holland, who kept things running smoothly, each runner was offered a seat and a drink by volunteers Koula Louki and Irena McCabe. They were then interviewed by a member of CRY staff – Karla Griffith, Kylie Wroe, Nicola Taylor or Cara MacMillan – and then escorted to the massage area, where the massage therapists helped to relieve their aching muscles.

A huge “thank you” to our volunteer massage therapists, Ellie Denton, Sabena ‘Beanie’ Williams, Alex Hough, Laura Jane Cowdell, Kirsten Davidson, Donna Willsmore, Zuzana Povazanova, Noreen Carr, Leona Williams, Edel Casey, Pippa Rollitt, Yoshiko Beer and Bridget Burleigh, whose skills were greatly needed and much appreciated by all of our runners who came back to the hotel and had been looking forward to a much needed massage! The team from Richmond Physiotherapy offered their help in memory of one of their colleagues, Ralph Murwill.

After their soothing massage, Phil and Rob Eastty showed our runners to the hotel rooms which had been reserved for showers. Everyone seemed to feel much better after a hot shower and change of clothes!

Thank you so much to the 57 runners and their supporters who came to the hotel to meet us, despite feeling emotionally and physically exhausted; and to all of our volunteers.

As always, it was a challenging day for everyone, and especially difficult for those who were running in memory of someone. It was lovely to meet so many of our runners’ friends, family members and supporters too.

We are grateful to all who have sent in photographs from the day. If you haven’t already done so, please do send any photos you have to [email protected] – we will include as many as possible on CRY’s Flickr account.

Volunteers Mark Blease and Mark Wibberley, and CRY staff Nat Jenkins, Emma Gibb and Ben Robinson, did a wonderful job of taking photos of CRY runners on the course and back at the hotel, and managed to get a smile out of everyone! Nat followed the CRY runners and tweeted information about them throughout the day.

Thank you also to the Hilton Hotel, Green Park, for once again hosting our post-event facilities and for providing teas and coffees at a discounted rate; offering CRY runners and supporters a discount on food and drink at the bar; and providing many extra facilities for CRY free of charge this year, including a dedicated member of staff.

Once again, we would like to thank each and every runner for their huge efforts in completing the marathon and fundraising for CRY. Your time, effort and valued support are truly appreciated. Well done!

The CRY Team

ALL our photos please visit our London Marathon 2013 Flickr gallery