Mum-of-four completes London Marathon after being told she was too big to be a runner

Kerry Bennett, who works at Tower Road Academy and runs with Skegness and District Running Club, finished the 26.2 mile run in six hours 55 minutes.

It was a challenge which helped to prove a point for the 41-year-old teaching assistant who only began training in January.

“I went to buy some trainers for the marathon some time ago and they told me to come back when I looked more like a runner,” she said.

“I was overweight and the wrong side of 40. So this became a personal battle as I wanted to prove it doesn’t matter what size you are or if you’re over 40. I’ve not lost much weight, but for me it was more about getting fitter and healthier. I can now run around after the children in the playground and I don’t get out of breath.”

Kerry has raised more than £1,000 for her chosen charity Living Paintings – which supplies touch books for blind and partially-sighted people in the UK. She was inspired to do so by a friend’s daughter who lost her sight aged just two.

“When it was windy with driving rain it sometimes felt like one step forward and two steps back,” she said. “But I had a goal. I had a charity to fundraise for and I was not going to let them down.”

You can boost Kerry’s fundraising total by visiting www.justgiving.com/fund
raising/Kerry-Bennett26

l For more local runners at this year’s London Marathon see the sports pages.