Marathon 38: The Penultimate One — Hampshire

Marathon 38 of 39, here we go...

We headed down to Hampshire on Friday night and made a weekend of it, staying just outside the New Forest and catching up with friends along the way. It was a long drive — around three and a half hours — but that has become a bit of a theme of this challenge. The weekly marathon has given us a reason to get out and see people we probably wouldn't otherwise have seen during a very busy year.

The marathons have become as much about the people as the running, and these last couple of weeks have really brought that home. After a lovely Saturday catching up with friends, it was time to get ready for Sunday's Hampshire marathon.

Emma and Rob joined me for the run, which was particularly nice as I used to row with Emma back in East London. One of the unexpected bonuses of running a marathon with someone is the amount of uninterrupted time you get to properly catch up. Four hours on the trails gives you plenty of time to talk!

The event itself was brilliantly organised and much bigger than I'd expected, with around 5,000 runners taking part across the different distances and 500–600 of us tackling the marathon.

And what a setting. The route took us deep into the forest, following paths and arrows through the trees. There were plenty of moments where, unless you really knew the New Forest, you had absolutely no idea where you were — you just had to trust the signs and keep following the trail. It made the whole thing feel like a bit of an adventure.

The forest was incredibly peaceful, too. It was a funny contrast with the race village at the start and finish, which was busy, noisy and full of atmosphere, while out on the course it could feel like we were completely on our own.

Unfortunately, Emma's rib injury, which we talked about on the podcast this week, meant that she wasn't quite confident she could take on the full marathon. So we improvised.

Emma joined me for the first 10 miles, Rob jumped in for the middle half marathon, and Emma came back for the final 5K. It worked brilliantly.

We kept a decent pace throughout and finished in around 4:35, making it one of the quicker marathons of the challenge. A huge effort from both of them — particularly Emma, who was running with an injury and, as ever, doing all of this around parenting.

The support around the course was fantastic, too. There were loads of local groups out manning the aid stations — scout groups, charities and community organisations — and they made a huge difference. These events simply wouldn't happen without the volunteers who give up their weekends to stand around handing out water, cheering runners on and pointing us in the right direction. A massive thank you to all of them!

The weather was, as it seems to be every week, worth a mention. It wasn't especially hot, but it was very close. Muggy, still and particularly sticky underneath the trees where there wasn't much breeze. My T-shirt was absolutely soaked by the end, despite having run in hotter temperatures on paper.

Still, the legs held together. I've even managed let them run a bit faster again. It's nice to know there is still some speed in there somewhere, and that after 38 marathons the legs haven't completely given up.

The knees are another story. They've never really recovered from Westmorland and I suspect they're going to need a few weeks off after this is all finished. But they're still doing what they need to do, so we can tolerate a bit of "whingy knee syndrome" for one more week.

There was also some great support waiting at the finish, including a few old university friends who live locally. It turned into a bit of a mini university reunion, followed by some wine and a few pints — a pretty good way to finish marathon number 38.

But it was actually a few miles before the finish that the significance of the day really hit me. With about three and a half miles to go, I suddenly realised that we were about to take another marathon off the list. And after that, there is only one left.

One.

For the last nine months, we've been talking about getting to Norfolk. We've planned the final weekend, thought about the party, talked about what it will feel like to finish and imagined the moment when 39 marathons across 39 historic counties will finally be complete. Suddenly, it wasn't some distant thing we were working towards.

It's next weekend! I had a bit of an emotional moment out on the trails.

There's been so much going on this year — the running, the travelling, the people we've met, the stories we've heard, the fundraising, the podcast, the shirts, the maps, the events, the admin, and everything as a family that continues alongside it all.

And somehow, we're here. 38 marathons down. One to go.

The fundraising has also really picked up over the last week and, as I'm writing this, we've hit our fundraising target on JustGiving. That is an incredible milestone, but we're not quite finished yet.

There is still plenty more to come from the events around the Norfolk weekend, including the fundraising party, raffle and auction. There are still tickets available if you're able to join us, and some fantastic auction lots available to bid on online or in person on the day.

So if you've been following along, sharing posts, buying a T-shirt or map, donating, running with me, listening to the podcast or simply sending messages of support — thank you. We've made it this far because of the support around us.

The fundraising target may have been reached, but the challenge isn't finished yet.

One last marathon... Norfolk, we're coming for you!