DESPITE her ‘dodgy knees’ Charlotte Parnall, 22, of Launceston, completed the London Marathon on Sunday with a very impressive time.

Charlotte, a former St Joseph’s School pupil, was aiming to complete the marathon in a time of 4:30:00. However she was not disappointed with her time of 5:21:21 as she said the temperature and her bad knee had made things quite difficult.

This year’s marathon was the hottest on record and this caused some trouble for runners. Charlotte said: “It was an incredible experience, but the heat was immense so I had to take things a bit slower.”

She said the support received from the crowd was ‘overwhelming’ and she was glad of the chance she got to see her family amidst the crowds during the race as this spurred her on. She said: “I managed to see my parents at mile seven and my cousin who ran with me briefly a few miles after that, which was a great encouragement.”

Charlotte (pictured) said the hardest part was between 25,000 and 30,000 kilometers. By this point the runners had completed around 16 to 17 miles and had just the final nine to go, but Charlotte said the final stretch of the race was perhaps the best. She said: “For the last three miles in particular the crowd was unbelievable and had such support to spur me on.

“Having strangers shouting your name and to just keep going because you’re so close was overwhelming and wonderful.”

She added: “Considering the dodgy knees — I hadn’t actually done a long run in about six weeks because of this — and crazy conditions I was super, super happy with the run.”

Charlotte’s run raised £2,207.23 for The Children’s Society, a charity that works with the country’s most vulnerable children and young people.

There is still time to donate, visit Charlotte’s JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/charlotte-parnall