London Marathon runners raise £65,000 for charity

Sue Strachan [right] said she was left feeling "incredibly emotional" as she watched the runners on Sunday

A team of runners, known as Sue's Crew, have raised £65,000 for Alzheimer's Research UK by completing the London Marathon.

The group were named in honour of Sue Strachan from Staunton on Wye in Herefordshire, who has vascular dementia.

Since her diagnosis, she attempted to raise as much money for Alzheimer's research as possible, even running the London Marathon herself in 2018, aged 62.

Watching on from the sidelines, Ms Strachan said: "It has been incredibly emotional, I have cried, I am losing my voice and I have just looked at my app and we have raised £65,000 - which is just awesome."

She continued: "The atmosphere here is electric.

"I have run a marathon and I am never going to run again but somehow it feels as though you are too.

"I am just so, so chuffed."

Ms Strachan added: "It is not just about the money, it is the awareness we are raising about what an awful disease it is."

Sue's Crew runner Grania McKittrick said she could not stop crying throughout the marathon: "I cried so much, I was just so happy.

"Especially around places like Tower Bridge, I was thinking this is the epitome of everything and I had lots of people cheering."

Fellow runner for Sue's Crew Will Dean said: "It was really humbling to hear how many people are affected by dementia.

"You could just see everyone was out there doing their impossible thing that day.

"This is the thing they have been spending months to do and it means so much to them."