The parents of a Kilmarnock runner have spoke of their extreme pride after their son burst into top 200 of London Marathon finishers.
Craig Ferguson, a gold medal winner at the Special Olympics swimming, competed alongside 48,000 runners at the iconic race around the capital.
And the super-quick 35-year-old, who was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome as a child, raced round the course in an astonishing 2 hours, 32 minutes, and 31 seconds and finished 193rd overall.
The Kilmarnock Harriers runner and Kilmarnock Jets Swimming Club member made his entire family and town incredibly proud with the staggering performance.
Craig took up running in early 2016 when he joined the harriers. He started his preparations for the London Marathon this January by gradually increasing the distances, with the longest being around 20 miles.
His dad, David, said: “Craig has always been sports-minded. His running gave him a new lease of life as he loved it so much and made many new friends in Kilmarnock Harriers. He also attends many races throughout Scotland and has completed three Roon the Toon races.
“I have to say he was ecstatic at the finish as, although exhausted, he was beaming like a Cheshire cat and quite emotional in the nicest possible way.
“Challenging is one word you could use. He has run up distances of 20 miles before, but this time when he reached 18 miles, his legs felt like lead and he suddenly drained of energy. He said he’s never felt so weak before but struggled on with amazing determination to complete the full 26.2 miles.”
David added: “The highlight was him crossing the finishing line, although unfortunately, we were unable to be there as planned due to the huge number of people on the tube all going to the same place but we did meet up shortly after on Whitehall where he was so excited to see us and we all had a good hug and took photos.
"We then went for a meal and a drink, the barman gave Craig his drinks for free and announced to all the others inside about Craig’s achievement.”
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