Running a marathon around the eternal city with 36,000 other runners was an incredible experience. But it came as a result of 7 months of training through a very wet Welsh winter. That was the real marathon.

The event itself was the exciting culmination of all that work, all those hard miles. The training was much more difficult than the actual race. And when you finally get there, you realise that all those people, of all shapes and sizes and ages, have been through the same training as you, and earned the right to run 26.2 miles around one of the most beautiful cities in the world. One of the best things I’ve ever done.