COMPASSION for World Farming runner Sandra Hood, from Dorchester, was one of Dorset’s quickest runners with a time of three hours, 41 minutes and 50 seconds.

She was running the marathon to highlight the plight of farm animals and show that a vegan diet can be healthy.

She said: “I’m absolutely thrilled, I’m just over the moon.

“It’s been very hot weather and when I was running round I was thinking of the animals in factory farms shut up and that kept me going.

“I wanted to show that you don’t have to eat animals to be fit.”

She added: “It got to 20 miles and I didn’t look at my watch as it has put me off before and I started to think I can do this in under four hours.

“I got a second wind. The crowds were so wonderful, they cheered me on.”