Saira O'Dwyer, of Falmouth-based web design company Slightly Different and her running partner Katie Atkins, have completed this year's London Marathon.

The duo were raising money for the Children's Hospice South West Precious Lives Appeal and the PDSA. Saira, finished the 26.2 miles in an impressive five hours, five minutes and 45 seconds.

She said: "It was an amazing experience - the atmosphere was so inspiring. I was so happy to have reached the finish line that I wanted to go and celebrate with a gin and tonic! It was certainly hard, and the training was gruelling at times, but I'm so thrilled to have achieved this. And it's been great to have been able to raise money for two charities that are so deserving of support.

"Keeping a blog throughout our training has been a great way to keep our family and friends up to date with everything we've been doing, and has made it easy for anyone who wanted to donate to the Precious Lives Appeal and the PDSA."

The blog, www.marathongirls.co.uk, has been an essential way for Saira and Katie to document their progress, let supporters know about any fundraising events, and has even become a repository of tips and hints for other aspiring runners. It's also been instrumental in allowing Saira and Katie to raise over £2,600 for their chosen charities, by allowing supporters to donate money online through the blog which has been designed by Slightly Different, has enabled Saira and Katie to give exposure to their supporters by displaying their logos, and links to their websites, and has been easy to keep up to date, in spite of the strict training regime.

Saira added: "I wanted a way to ensure that we didn't have to spend too much time maintaining a website, but was still able to keep the news current, let everyone know about fund-raising events like speed dating and race night, and allow people to leave comments if they wanted to. That two-way communication on the website has been really important in motivating us - the good wishes and pledges of donations really spurred me on when I was tiring during the last two miles of the race!"

With donations still pouring in, the final tally for money raised is expected to break the £3,000 mark, and Saira's blisters are expected to heal by the end of the week!.