A 43-year-old mother of two has completed her first ever London Marathon at the weekend - and raised more than £1,000 for charity at the same time.

Candy Gable, of Fieldhead Road, Guiseley, made her debut in the Flora London marathon on Sunday, clocking up a respectable time of just over five hours.

Mrs Gable, who had not done any serious running until she applied to take part in the marathon in December, said her friends helped her raise £1,000 to be split between Guiseley Senior Citizens' and Macmillan Cancer Relief.

The day of the marathon brings back many fond memories for Candy.

"It was nice - fabulous in fact. The atmosphere was really friendly and the crowd was very encouraging, it was a marvellous day overall.

"There was never a stage when I was in trouble while running. I'm not saying I found it easy, but I kept going and it seemed to go really quickly overall. I did see some terrible sights though, some people were in an awful lot of pain.

"If you'd have asked me straight after the race, I would have definitely said no, never again," she said.

"But I've thought about it and I think I may do it again. The whole experience was just wonderful, and I've managed to help two charities at the same time, which is the main thing."

Candy said that people looking out for her on television would have been disappointed - she never appeared.

"They were only interested in people in fancy dress."

Candy thanked her trainer, Peter Dominy, for his efforts and everyone who supported her, including her friends at Guiseley Post Office and Rhodes newsagents.

As part of her training, she swam 80 lengths each Sunday at Aireborough Leisure Centre and also ran every other day around Guiseley, Otley and Ilkley.

Candy, who is married to Peter, has a 12-year-old daughter Gemma, and a son Russell, 17.

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