CAMELFORD husband and wife, Matt and Sam Allan, completed the London Marathon last Sunday and described it as an ‘amazing experience’.

The Allans only took up running less than a year ago but managed to get around the 26.2-mile course in a time of four hours and nine minutes.

Running for their chosen charity FLEET, Matt and Sam maintained a steady pace throughout as they ran side by side all the way before crossing the line holding hands.

After spending the last six months organising fundraising events including a ‘pop til you drop event’, a meet and greet with Santa and a charity bingo night, Matt was blown away by the whole occasion.

Matt said: “We’ve never done anything like that, it was breathtaking. The people of London were brilliant. As we were running around there were children handing out sugary treats while there was music and so many well-wishers, it’s an amazing thing to do. The people are so friendly, random people would just shout ‘Go Matt and Sam’ and once you’ve finished there are total strangers hugging each other, it’s a very surreal experience.”

The London Marathon takes in many of the city’s most iconic landmarks, but it was running over Tower Bridge that really caught the Allans’ attention as well as the start line.

Matt said: “Tower Bridge was really special. The views over London from there were incredible. The other extra special part for us was before the race. The vibe of pure excitement at the start line was just amazing.”

With the weather being extremely warm on Sunday, many runners suffered from dehydration and cramp, however the Allans had no such issues, running at a steady pace throughout.

Matt continued: “Before we did the race we never put a specific time that we wanted to achieve as we just wanted to run at a decent pace. But to finish in a time of four hours and nine minutes is a major achievement for us considering we’ve been running for less than a year. To do that together and cross the line together was just great. However it does seem a bit strange that it’s all over. We’ve worked very hard over the last few months and we’re worn out but it’s an amazing thing to do and we’re so glad we did it.”

The Allans are also very keen to thank all of the support and well-wishes they have received over the last few months and expect that they will probably do something like this again in the future.

Matt added: “We’ve really enjoyed the whole experience from all of the fundraising events to the race itself. We’d like to thank everyone who has supported us and especially to the anonymous backers on our Just Giving page, we can’t thank you enough. We aimed for about £4,000 but we’re already over that so lets see how much we can raise. The hundreds of messages of support we have received have been incredible. We’re looking forward to taking a short break but we’ll definitely continue running, that’s for sure.”

To donate to Matt and Sam’s Just Giving page, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/MattandSamAllan