It looked like the impossible challenge for former Olympic athletes Sally Gunnell and Steve Cram - training a group of totally unfit novice runners to complete the 26.2 mile course of the Flora London Marathon in just six months.

But all ten of the runners who completed the training programme crossed the finish line on April 23rd in a moment of true personal glory. Together eight of the runners raised over £67,000 for charity and you can still show your support and admiration by sponsoring them on this site.

Clint Walters, 26, who has been HIV positive since the age of 17, was first to finish in an impressive four hours and 26 minutes, despite injuring his heel in training and suffering during the race.

"It's changed my life. From 17 all I thought about was HIV. Now I think I can try other things and and I can be reasonably good at it," he said after receiving his medal from Gunnell.

JJ Luck crossed the finish line next in five hours and nine minutes and was jubilant. "I ran it!! I used to think the treatment for my cancer was tough but this has been really tough," she said.

Dean Smith came in third in five hours and 36 minutes and said running the marathon had allowed him to take a big step forward in coping with the grief at his stepson Daniel's suicide last year.

"When I decided to take part in Run For Glory I could never have dreamt that it would have such a dramatic effect on my life...I was never under any illusions that this would be the "cure" for the loss of Daniel but it has allowed me to take a giant step forward in rebuilding my family life," he says on his fundraising page.

Michelle Thomas was a self-confessed couch potato, shown in the programme lying in bed smoking. On April 23rd she ran the marathon in six hours and 42 minutes and said she would do it again next year and do it faster.

"Ok, so it took me six hours 42 minutes, but the journey has been unforgettable and I plan to carry on running to raise funds for and awareness of NCH so please carry on supporting me," she says on her page.

Linda Ball surprised everyone by finishing the race, inspired throughout by her son who is living with Duchene Muscular Dystrophy. "The Linda that finished this is completely different from the Linda that started it," she said. Read more of her story here.

The other runners were Julia Kerslake, a mother of two who is trying to rebuild her life after breast cancer and ran for the Bob Champion Cancer Trust; Steve Dale, a bereaved accounts clerk, who ran in memory of his fiancée Deb for CRY; John Dawson, an ex investment banker who is nearly blind after a serious road accident and ran for the GLFB and George Ikediashi, a law graduate and drag queen who ran for Shine Theatre Trust.