COURAGEOUS Colin Edwards, running in his second London Marathon since losing his leg – managed to shave 32 minutes off last year's time.

The 50-year-old farmer from Trusham completed the course in four hours 45 minutes, overtaking Chris Moon, a younger amputee well-known in the disabled sporting world. 'I am really, really pleased,' he said. The weekend got off to the worst possible start. The code on his car key got scrambled locking him out, so he had to hire a car to get to London. In the general flap he left his mobile phone behind, containing the vital telephone numbers of his support team, who were to bring spare parts for his false leg. The big day dawned – still, overcast, with mizzly rain: perfect running conditions. 'The race was absolute havoc. At the beginning I got tangled up with running caterpillars and garlic and things like that.' He managed to contact the support team and changed over his knee socket in speedy pit stops at seven and 13 miles. After the 19th mile he got his second wind and was running well. The heavens opened and he was worried that his prosthetic sock would get saturated and cause problems. In the end he was going so well, he did not bother to make his third scheduled changeover at 21 miles and just powered on. 'When I got over the finishing line I virtually collapsed. It was quite emotional. All of the effort you have put into it comes to the surface,' he said. This week he said he was 'very close' to reaching his target of £1,200 for Steps, a charity for children with lower limb deficiencies. First-time marathon runner, Paul Walker of Orley Road, Ipplepen, allowed the rhino and caterpillar to pass him and was glad to finish in five-and-a-half hours. He only took up running in January after friends told him he needed to exercise. 'I was 16 stone and it was all on my belly. I looked like a darts player,' said Paul, a health care development manager for pharmaceuticals firm, Boehringer Ingelheim. To start with he could run no more than a quarter-of-a-mile. But after six weeks he had lost two-and-a-half stone and was soon putting in 30-40 miles a week. His asthma also dramatically improved. Paul, 35, raised £5,000 for the Stroke Association and two colleagues from Somerset raised another £3,000. Their aim is to raise £20,000 by the end of the year to provide every stroke unit in the south west with a laptop with dysphasia and asphysia software, which speech therapists can take into stroke victims' homes to help them learn to talk again. 'I am running the South Downs Marathon in June and the New York Marathon in November and the Torbay Half Marathon.' He's hoping to shave at least an hour off his time by November. 'I've got the bug now,' he said. For Claire Gillard, of Netley Road, Newton Abbot, her first marathon will also be her last. Claire, 45, a learning support assistant at Coombeshead College, took up running seriously after her son, Danny, was diagnosed with leukaemia. She reached her £1,000 target for the leukaemia charity, Clic Sergeant, but was disappointed not to scrape in under four hours. 'I got halfway within two hours then I could feel my feet getting sore and actually felt a blister burst and carried on in pain. At 23 miles I thought I only had two miles left, then I had a blister on the other foot as well,' she said. Despite that, Claire said it had been a wonderful day. 'I'm glad I had the experience.' First time marathon runners, Wendy Bathard and Paul Barber from Bovey Tracey, completed in just over four-and-a-half hours. 'The crowd was brilliant and kept you going,' said Wendy. The couple train with the Teign Valley Hash House Harriers. For them it was a taste of an even bigger challenge to come. Wendy, 45, a children's outdoor supervisor and Paul, 47, a builder, plan to take a year off work to walk 5,000 miles around the coastline of Britain, starting this November. They hope to raise £50,000 for Guide Dogs for the Blind and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, and will be taking their terrier Havoc with them. On Saturday, May 6, at 7pm, they are holding a charity auction at Riverside Inn, Bovey Tracey. They can be contacted by email at [email protected]">[email protected] or on 07980867788 or 07876573687.