A father has described his London Marathon race as a "truly incredible experience." 

Ian Picken, 38, from Great Bentley, was one of the more than 50,000 runners who joined the London Marathon on April 21. 

While he is an avid sportsman and enjoys cycling and endurance exercises, he was never a keen runner. 

But the struggle was worth the pain, according to him. 

Gazette: Inspiring - Ian Picken is running the London Marathon to raise money for The Sick Children's Trust (Image: Submitted)Inspiring - Ian Picken is running the London Marathon to raise money for The Sick Children's Trust (Image: Submitted) (Image: Submitted)

Ian said: “My legs hurt, and I feel sore, but it was incredible. Just a truly incredible experience to run. 

“It feels like the best thing I’ve ever done even though it is something I didn’t really like.” 

Ian has trained and prepared for the past five months to get ready for the 26.2-mile-long race, which he finished within four hours and 40 minutes. 

He said: “I’m 100 per cent happy with my time. I got injured in December and had to stop training for six weeks. 

“I had to do a lot of physio exercises and rebuild my fitness back to that level because I had lost several weeks. 

“After that, my goal of running a set time changed to just finishing it without having to stop. And I’m super pleased with myself that I didn’t have to stop and managed to keep running."

“I’d definitely do another half-marathon, but right now I’m not so sure about another marathon just yet,” Ian joked. 

Ian took on the challenge to run the marathon to raise money for the Sick Children’s Trust, a charity that has helped his family a lot. 

Gazette:

The charity offers housing and accommodation for parents whose children are in hospital. 

“Our firstborn passed away at twelve weeks old and we have spent a lot of time at Addenbrookes Hospital,” said Ian, who is beyond thankful for the support he and his wife Katie received during this trying time. 

“I managed to raise £5,600, and I’m super pleased with that. The charity told us back then it cost around £40 per night to house a family, and this will help many people who were in the same situation as us.”