RUNNERS from the county were nursing aching limbs yesterday after completing the gruelling London Marathon on Sunday.

Your Worcester News caught up with some of the runners who were pounding the capital's streets to raise money for charities close to their hearts.

Two Droitwich mums who trained together both completed the 26.2 mile race. Louise Carter, aged 38, of St Mary's Road, finished her second marathon in five hours 37 minutes and said it was agony.

She said: "I crossed the line and I was broken, but I got home last night and registered for next year's online."

Her friend Christine Green, also 38, of Yew Tree Hill, finished in six hours and 13 minutes, and added: "It was hard work, but a huge experience. The atmo-sphere was incredible."

Mrs Carter raised £1,500 for the Spinal Injuries Association and Mrs Green raised £2,000 for Whizz-Kidz, two organisations offering disabled people the chance of independence.

Mike Chandler, 51, from Hereford ran his eighth marathon in four hours and 53 minutes and raised £16,000 for the NSPCC.

He said: "I only started training two weeks ago and did three training runs, but being a postman helps."

He ran with Sarah Burgoyne, 39, from Alding-ton, near Evesham, who has raised £2,700 for the charity.

Mike Lancaster, a physiotherapist at Worcester Rugby Club, was also running for the children's charity and had a bet with players he would better a colleague's time from last year's marathon. The 28-year-old beat the time by 18 seconds and raised more than £2,000 for the NSPCC.

Beverley Everton, a 39-year-old nurse from St Michael's Road, Claines, near Worcester, power walked around the course and finished in six hours and 50 minutes.

She said: "I had a fantastic time, I just wanted to be able to finish it and still be able to breathe."

Mrs Everton raised more than £1,500 for the Spinal Injuries Association.

Running for St Richard's Hospice in Worcester and the Multiple Sclerosis Trust, Jason Knight, aged 38, of Monarch Drive, St John's, Worcester, finished in four hours and 21 minutes to raise £2,800.

Alison Anstey, 49, from Kempsey, was running in memory of her friend, who died at Christmas.

Once all the money comes in she hopes the total for her five-hour marathon will be £7,000 for Cancer Research UK.

Other runners included: Michael Edmondson, 31, from Cumbria, who raised more than £1,000 for the Tracy Sollis Leukaemia Trust based in Evesham; former Worcester News photographer Marie Myers, who completed the course in five hours and 53 minutes to raise £1,100 for Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Worcestershire-based Protection of Unwanted Puppies Society; and sisters Tracy Bodley from Droit-wich and Debbie Taggio from Worcester, who crossed the finishing line in a time of five hours and 24 minutes to raise £1,400 for the Shaw Trust.