I actually did it – I completed the marathon. And, as predicted, it was the hardest thing I have ever done, writes Hannah Webster.

My boyfriend Paul and I got up to Edinburgh on Friday afternoon so that I could rest up on Saturday, have a look at the route of the marathon course and get prepared. As the day wore on, however, I realised even then that I would have to readjust my five-hour goal time. It was, according to the weather reports, hotter than Ibiza at about 24 degrees, and just walking in the sun was making us tired.

Having trained from February when I was doing all I could to keep warm on runs, this was one eventuality I had not prepared for, and just prayed that the following day would be cool and overcast with clouds.

And that’s how marathon day started. I couldn’t believe my luck as I walked to the start line for 10am and was actually quite cold. Smugly I thought how wrong the weather forecast was. It was fantastic setting off with the crowds cheering everyone on and various people in fancy dress costumes – I imagine it to be just like a smaller scale London Marathon. We were indeed told by the race commentator that it’s the second biggest marathon in the country next to the capital’s.

The first five miles were down hill and I made sure I paced myself, despite the desire to go racing on ahead, and drank more water and Lucozade than I would care to mention to stave off any tiredness and dehydration. The first eight miles were brilliantly easy, with the cool weather and the good atmosphere, I was really enjoying it and felt like doing that three-and-a-bit times over wouldn’t be so hard at all. Rookie mistake.

The sun started to come out at this point, and by 10 miles the clouds had burned off, the sun was high in the sky and the temperature was rising. Thankfully I had put spf 25 sun lotion on, although Paul and some friends who had come up to watch the race hadn’t, and suffered pretty bad sun burn just watching. By the halfway point, everyone was feeling the heat, and as we saw the first runner heading back to the finish I couldn’t help but notice how dripping in sweat he was.

The crowds were fantastic. They lined the route clapping and handing out jelly babies, and many had their garden hoses out to spray down hot runners as they passed. I tried to avoid this after the first time, as the contrast of being so hot while sprayed with cold water was such a shock I almost forgot where I was.

Several people had collapsed by the side of the road and were being treated by St John Ambulance paramedics. I was horrified to see paramedics giving full-blown CPR to one man, which totally caught me off guard and I nearly stopped to try to do something to help, but realised I would just be getting in the way, and guiltily carried on.

By 16 miles, we were heading up the coast, way out of the city, and the amount of shade that could be found was decreasing rapidly. All I wanted to do was stop and I combatted the heat by drinking as much water as I could take. At 18 miles we were running through woodland and I was still on track for the five-hour mark. The woodland provided a cool shade and I remember thinking that if that was the temperature for the rest of the race, I could do it in five hours. But alas, we came out into beaming sunshine and as I passed 19 miles all I could see was the long road back towards the city bathed in sunlight with no shade whatsoever. I slowed down drastically and by 20 miles, I had to walk. I would say I was disappointed with myself for this, but at that point in time, I could do nothing else. I had seen about four people collapsed by that point and I sure as hell was not going to be one of them.

I decided to run-walk the rest of the way, and ran for five minutes, walked for two until I reached 23 miles when all I could do was walk for 100 metres and run the same distance. By this point, every time my foot struck the concrete I could feel shock waves travelling up my legs and through my lower back. I met a couple of people and we chatted to keep each other going before I continued on ahead. One of the things that is so great about marathons is the camaraderie between runners. You are all so exhausted and you know what each other is going through so you can’t help but share some kind of bond as you push each other on.

With about a kilometre left to go, I was so exhausted and emotional at having come this far that I nearly burst into tears as I saw Paul running towards me. He was yelling at me to keep going and that he was proud of me for getting to this point – it was all I could do to run to the finish line from there, and I crossed it in five hours and 38 minutes. Slow, I know, but I think there were a fair few runners who missed their targets by a long way due to the heat, and a good number who didn’t finish as a result, and I’m not disappointed.

I am, however, aching in every muscle in my legs. But this, thankfully, will pass, and I’m looking forward to doing some 10km races this summer which I’m hoping will seem like a walk in the park now.

Next up, the Birmingham Half Marathon . . .