Devizes artist Sandra Wrobel was thrilled to have been selected as one of 5,000 people to take part in the five-mile run at London’s Olympic stadium on Sunday.

The 67-year-old, from Nur-steed Road, who takes part in the Lawrence Society of Art’s annual exhibition, only took up running last year.

She said: “My friend, who is the proper runner, applied for the Olympic Park run and suggested I did too. I waited until 11pm on the night of the closing date and I got selected. I could not believe it. Neither could my friend. She didn’t get chosen.”

Mrs Wrobel turned up with hundreds of runners for the National Lottery-backed event.

She said: “I felt as though my legs and feet were rooted to the surface. We were all jumping up and down trying to generate some warmth. Just as I was beginning to wonder what I was doing there, our group of runners was told to get ready.

“We just managed to walk at first, due to the sheer numbers taking part, then breaking into a slow jog and finally we were running.”

The course took the runners through the Olympic Park and into the Olympic Stadium itself.

Mrs Wrobel said: “I remember hearing Chariots of Fire booming out, which made me feel quite emotional, and then out into the light and the vast space of the arena. I waved in the direction of where I hoped my family would be and kept on going to the five-mile finish line.

“So the hours spent pounding the pavements of Devizes paid off; I finished the race and my time was just under 51 minutes.

“For those 51 minutes I got to feel what it must be like to be an Olympian.”