IT WAS hot, they had blisters and some had bad knees, but they made it.

These runners from the Halstead area are now recovering after pounding 26.2 miles of pavement in Sunday’s Flora London Marathon.

Jeremy Hulme and his team made an ass-tronimical effort.

Mr Hulme, of Hedingham Road, Gosfield, brayed for cool weather after donning an 18kg donkey costume.

He said: “People from the crowd were saying it was the best costume they had seen. They were running out and patting us on the backs.

“It was hard work and because I’m so old and knackered, my role was to represent the broken donkeys who have to do it every day.

“I’ve got blisters on blisters and sores on sores.”

The 60-year-old is a chief executive of Spana, a charity that provides free veterinary care to working animals and teaches people to care for them properly.

Mr Hulme, who ran with his colleagues Simon Pope and Peter Muffett, finished in 10h 12m.

They have raised at least £10,500 for Spana.

John Vale found it was an emotional day because he was running in memory of his daughter, Maggie, who lost her battle with stomach and liver cancer in October.

Maggie had lived in Birdbrook and was a pupil at Hedingham School.

Mr Vale, 50, whose time was 6h 1m, said: “I had a lot of knee trouble, so I had to walk a lot of the way.

“There was music playing and people cheering. It’s just an amazing event.”

The painter and decorator, who lives in Little Bradley, Suffolk, added: “It was very emotional. I just kept thinking of Maggie all the time and thinking of all the pain she went through. At the end I broke down and blubbed my eyes out.”

Mr Vale ran with family friend, Jackie Delf, and the pair hope to have raised about £8,000 for Clic Sargent, which cares for children with cancer and their families.

Marathon maestro Terry Rivers, 63, of Harvey Street, Halstead, finished in 3h 52m.

He said: “I think a lot of people suffered with the heat. I wasn’t too bad for the first 13 miles, but after noon it got quite warm.

“All marathons are hard work, but it was good fun.”

Halstead residents Ken Gilliard, Mick Shaw and Ian Stanhope raised money for the charity Children with Leukaemia.

Mr Gilliard, 44, of Slough Farm Road, and Mr Stanhope, 46, of Sloe Hill finished together in 4h 3m.

Mr Shaw, 53, of Sudbury Road, finished in 5h 30m.

They aim to raise £5,000 for charity.

Mr Gilliard said: “The atmosphere was fantastic. It kept us going, especially near the end.”