A regional sports reporter who ran the Boston Marathon has told how grateful he is to have escaped unscathed.

Mark Jenkin (pictured), of the North Devon Journal, was the first British runner to complete this year’s race, crossing the finish line around two hours before the blasts which shook the city.

Three people were killed and more than 140 injured after two bombs were detonated almost simultaneously in the final stretch of the historic race.

The 34-year-old from Barnstaple described how, after running the 26 mile race, he then walked across the city to try to give blood after hearing of the tragedy.

He arrived back in the UK yesterday (Wednesday).

“I have just felt in a daze, I think it will all start sinking in now,” he said.

He said he had just arrived back at his hotel, a few streets away from the finish line, when he heard helicopters and sirens.

“I was feeling tired and a bit disappointed with my time in the race but all that seems irrelevant now. I just feel grateful to be ok.

“No one in the reception knew anything about it and I didn’t hear an explosion. But by the time I got to my room I could hear helicopters circling above and loads of sirens.

“Then I heard they were asking for blood donors so I walked across town to the Red Cross centre. But it turned out they couldn’t accept blood from anyone who had lived in Britain for a certain period of time.”

Mark came 138th of 23,000, and was the first British runner to cross the finish line

Mark ran the marathon in two hours and 34 minutes, coming 138th of the 23,000 runners taking part. It was his fifth marathon, having also run in London, Berlin, Edinburgh and New York.

He added: “My thoughts go out to all those people who were injured and the families of those who were killed. Boston is a great city and the people are rightly proud of their marathon which they have hosted since 1897.

“It was a privilege to take part in such a historic race and it is sad that the 117th Boston Marathon will be remembered for the wrong reasons.”