New York on 5th November, just 2 days after my birthday, and a 5am wake up call in order to get to the starting line in time for the 37th running of the marathon. One of 38,000 runners watched by a crowd of 2.5 million (almost certainly a figure which owes a lot to American hyperbole – but still a huge crowd) provided a huge contrast to my last marathon and my next adventure.

My last marathon was in the Antarctic Circle just a few hundred miles from the South Pole, with a field of 9 and no spectators run on ice and snow. And following on from that I am heading in the opposite direction for the Westminster Arctic Challenge. Freezing temperatures, ice and snow and the only observers likely to be polar bears!

The New York was an amazing experience. I was really unsure as to how it would go because the training had not gone to plan due to an Achilles tendon problem which was still troubling me when I lined up at the start. The race is held through the 5 boroughs of New York, running across the 5 bridges and cheered on by a huge crowd including approximately 100 bands. The last 6 or 7 miles were very tough and the lack of training showed but I managed to run the whole way and enjoyed running through the finishing line in a picturesque autumnal Central Park in a time of 4 hours and 35 minutes.

All the hard work paid off. For those who are taking part with me in the Arctic Challenge, I would just say if you haven’t so far experienced the satisfaction of setting yourself a big physical challenge, putting in the training and eventually crossing the finishing line, then you are in for a real thrill when we all reach our final destination in the Arctic Circle. All the hard work which we will have to put in over the next 3 months will be forgotten as we celebrate our success. So let’s all get those miles in, enjoy ourselves and raise a huge sum for our charities.