I haven’t run a marathon, and if I’m honest I don’t have any desire to in the future. However, I have the utmost admiration and respect for those people who have completed the 26.2mile distance, and watching runners of all speeds, ages and costumes on Sunday was an amazing experience!

I’d only ever seen the London Marathon on TV before, and spectating live was a completely different atmosphere.

I joined several other Team Naturally Run ladies to set up our cheering station at 23.6miles, just down from Monument Underground. It was a good location – near toilets and refreshments for spectators, and at the point in the race where runners need that extra boost to get them to the finish line.

We arrived just after 10am, in time to catch the wheelchair racers come through, and I didn’t really move until 4pm that afternoon, clapping and cheering until my voice was hoarse. It was cold for spectators, although pretty good weather for the runners, so we tried to stay warm with coffees/teas and cheering enthusiastically!

I made some cardboard signs to tie/tape to the railings and hold up so friends could spot us, and hopefully generate some smiles! We also had a helium balloon to try and enable early identification, but it was pretty windy so he ended up being a little misbehaved!

Watching the elite runners fly past, making it look so effortless was amazing. I was lucky enough to spot Paula Radcliffe grinning away as she completed her last ever marathon- to have a legend, an inspiration and an all-round awesome athlete pass by so close gave me goosebumps. We all turned into fangirls yelling “Paula, Paula” and jumping up and down wildly!

This year, I also knew a huge number of people running and we were lucky to spot nearly all of them – hugs, waves, and yells of encouragement given out, and an overwhelming sense of pride to be friends with these incredible people.

Staying until near the end, I glimpsed the painful part of the race, and while I say I don’t want to run a marathon, the grit and determination on people’s faces as they struggled to that finish line is something I definitely wouldn’t mind having some of!