The entrance to the shopping area of Newport, Wales.

Wales is one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. Our next marathon location was in the Welsh industrial city of Newport, half an hour away by train from the capital Cardiff.

We flew out of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to Cardiff Airport on Saturday, April 28, 2018. After taking the connecting trains to Cardiff Central Station, we arrived shortly after lunch at Newport station.

Registration fee is £50 or £52, depending on whether you are affiliated with a running club. Race packs are sent to local runners but since we are from Belgium, we picked up my race bib on the day of the race.

It was too early for check-in. We walked around the shopping area for a while.

Time for a leisurely lunch at Wagamama at Friars Walk Shopping Centre.

We stayed in a two-star hotel for the night. It was close to the start and finish line but had none of the amenities we were used to.

Dinner was at Nando’s also at the mall.

The race started at 9:00 AM by the riverfront of the Newport City Centre. The area was transformed with tents promoting various products.

The ABP Newport Wales Marathon & 10K 2018 kicked off at 9:00 AM on April 29, 2018. The race had a six-hour time limit.

I finished the race in 5:26:53.

Richard met me at the finish line and escorted me back to the hotel to pick up our luggage.

The city newspaper featured the marathon on its cover.

We took the train to Manchester where we stayed overnight before catching the flight back to Belgium. Radisson Blu Hotel right at the airport was a welcome change from the previous hotel.