Thousands of people descended upon the streets of the capital to take part in the London Marathon on Sunday, for some a personal challenge, and for others the chance to raise money for charity.
Karen McGuinness, 50, from Weymouth was among the runners and has raised £2,000 for Children with Cancer UK - while also becoming a star on social media.
Karen says that now she can tick the marathon off her bucket list.
Karen, who often busks for charity, crossed the line in 8 hours and 44 minutes. She crossed the line exhausted and embraced a new friend Kelly whom she had met while running and who gave her the motivation she needed to put one foot in front of the other for the last few miles.
READ MORE: Weymouth busker and fundraiser to run the London Marathon
The moment was captured by the London Marathon team and went viral on social media with the line 'Heroes'.
It was a bumpy race at times for Karen who has a colostomy bag due to medical issues. She collapsed halfway through and was almost removed by the marshals, but she was determined to finish.
Karen said: "I pushed myself to my limits, which is silly but I knew I had to finish. I didn't want to let my sponsors and supporters down, even though I nearly blooming killed myself doing it.
READ MORE: Fun, fast times and emotional challenges as thousands take on London Marathon
"I am sitting here wondering how on earth I got over the finish line. It was emotional, the entire day was."
Eight people ran for Weldmar Hospicecare, many of whom share a special connection to the charity, and collectively raised £15,000.
Alaine Harman, the Weldmar Public Fundraising Lead cheered on the runners from their cheering station.
She said: “We had some incredible runners out there, one told me their highlight was seeing our cheering station, and another was injured and had to walk most of the way, but his sheer determination to get across the line was incredible to see and they raised an amazing amount."
Not everyone could get a place to run the marathon in London, so some chose to run a virtual marathon wherever they could, including Weymouth's Louise Bell, a nurse at Bridges Medical Practice who did her virtual marathon in Lodmoor Country Park.
READ MORE: Meet the Dorset GP running London Marathon in Big Ben costume
She says she ran the marathon to honour a friend who died of blood cancer and has raised £1,122 so far for Blood Cancer UK.
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