For most people, just getting into the Virgin Money London Marathon is reason enough for celebration, but for one East London woman the good news was made even more special by the man who delivered it.

Jayna Mistry, 27, from Bow, found out on Monday she would be running next year’s London Marathon via a personalised message from one of the world’s greatest ever distance runners, Sir Mo Farah.

Farah, the four-time Olympic champion, will himself be running next year’s London Marathon after saying farewell to track competition after the World Championships in London this summer.

Before he started his marathon training in earnest, Farah took some time out to record personalised messages for a very select group of runners who had won places in the 2018 ballot and will join him on the Start Line.

Farah told Jayna: “Hey, Jayna Mistry. I hope you’re looking forward to the 2018 Virgin Money London Marathon as much as me? I’ll see you there.”

The message was posted onto Jayna’s Twitter account on Monday morning causing a huge stir on social media.

Securing a place in the 2018 Virgin Money London Marathon was even harder this year as a world record 386,050 people applied for a place, an increase of nearly 29 per cent from 2017.

More than 58 per cent of the UK applications for 2018 were from people who have never run a marathon and more than 45 per cent of the total UK applicants were women which was also a new record.

The Virgin Money London Marathon is the world’s largest single day fundraising event.

The 2018 race takes place on Sunday, April 22.