After a long drive on Friday evening, we pulled up into the muddy car park of the New Forest marathon HQ to pick up my race number and pack. There was lots of moaning, bickering and tantrums on the way, but the two boys in the back of the car were fine and that was just from the wife!

Registration was friendly, really easy and straight forward, with the option of buying a ticket for Sunday's parking offered which we took up. We had a walk around the site and was met by an incredibly friendly chap in a green hat walking his dog around the grounds. He was one of the stewards and kindly spoke with my wife and kids to talk them through fun things for them to do whilst I ran. Although nowhere near fully set up, the HQ and stalls had a bit of magic about it and an open mic was set up for anyone who fancied a sing-a-long. I also met up with the famous Jon-on-the-finish-line who agreed to give my youngest son a birthday shout out as the day of the race was his third birthday.

Sunday came and we arrived to a vibrant and buzzing New Forest marathon. We made our way straight over to the stalls that were offered lovely hot chocolates and bacon sandwiches. My wife was so delighted that she decided to start raving with her bacon sarnie aloft to the tunes that came from the stage. Titanium by David Guetta was the song of choice, she danced away while the boys and I slowly started to shuffle away....

We made our way to the warm up area where there was some inspiring words from some of the people who took part in the London marathon and documentary about mental health. Joining them was the gentleman who ran 44 marathons in 44 countries in 44 days too, he had some great words of guidance and wished us well. I also recall seeing the "New Forest Marathons Biggest Fan" stood at the front of the group grinning like a Cheshire Cat at the thought of getting back in the Forest again for another few hours and his smile was infectious, as I felt myself grinning from ear to ear.

We made our way to the start line where Jon did a wonderful shout out to my son who was very happy that people said happy birthday to him and then headed into the woodland.  I've said it before and will say it again, if you have not run this marathon (note - I ran the half last year) every way you can describe the beauty of this race does not do it anywhere near the justice it deserves. The scenery is breathtaking, the nature is phenomenal and although you are running in the same forest, it is totally different after each corner.

This year, unlike the half marathon, a section of this race was on some of the roads and although very, very quiet at times, the support was lovely and humble.  There may not have been loud claps, but unlike some little clapping you get at large marathons, this felt personal and genuine. It was lovely for these people to stand in chilly conditions cheering everyone past.

Although out the scenic forest, between 12-13 miles was brilliant as we had to leave the pavement and come on to the road as some wild donkeys were horsing around and took up pathways we were running on. Maybe they were looking for a zebra crossing?

We ran back into the woods around 15-16 miles in and again the scenery was phenomenal. Normally around this mark I can very slightly feel my legs starting to ache before the inevitable pain that I start to encounter around 19-21 miles. This did not happen at all at all. It could have been a combination of a slower, more controlled pace or the endorphins I was feeling from running through this magical place. Either way, I was feeling absolutely amazing and loving every step of this marathon.

For the last few miles we made our way back on the road and apart from the enormous cow that walked on the road or the galloping ponies that missed me by about 5 feet, it was a nice steady few miles which I was enjoying. Pain was starting to come in but this was by no means hitting a wall or struggling.

We re-joined the race with the 5k, 10k and half marathon runners and they were all screaming encouragement at me as I ran past them. Great support from others doing their own race, obviously struggling but appreciating the marathon runners had run longer and it was lovely to hear their words.

I made my way towards the finish line and knew that I had to pick it up slightly to finally get under my personal best of 3:21:01. I picked up the pace, but seemed to be flying as the supporters, fellow runners and Jon on the finish line were screaming at me to keep going. I crossed the finish line absolutely elated. I knew I'd got a PB (the first I'd got over any distance for a long time) and was absolutely overjoyed to get under 3:20, a time I thought was unobtainable for me with a time of 3:19:38. A 34th place finish over 26.2 miles as well was something I'll treasure too.

Was it the visor? Was it the good vibes from the marathon? Was it out running rampant ponies who were going to run me over? Who knows but this was a magical, magical experience and one I would certainly do again. A well earned beer and a big fat jacket potato with cheese and beans from the food stall went down a treat.

Conclusion: As the lyrics to Titanium say, "I'm Bullet Proof, nothing to lose. Fire away, fire away." And I felt it running this race, it may not have thousands upon thousands of cheers that major marathons offer. But major marathons cannot offer what this one does and that's what adds to the magic of this wonderful event.