Chris Nield is counting down the hours to Sunday’s London Marathon.

The 51-year-old Gloucester Athletic Club member has run in the race once before in 2023, so he knows what a thrill it is take part in one of sport’s iconic events.

“I can’t wait,” he said. “I’m buzzing with excitement for it. The crowds, the atmosphere, everyone is cheering you on. It’s phenomenal.

“If you’ve got your name on your shirt, they’ll shout, ‘Go on Chris’, or ‘You’ve got this Chris’.

“The noise at Tower Bridge is amazing but Canary Wharf is unbelievable.

“It’s the sort of noise that the top footballers experience, but it’s something the runners will get to experience in London.”

Nield ran a PB of three hours, 29 minutes, 55 seconds in London three years ago and Sunday’s race will be only the third time he has run 26.2 miles.

The first occasion was in Newport in 2018 – he clocked 3.56 – and he said: “I’m targeting a sub 3.30 on Sunday.

“The most important thing is to enjoy it but it will add to the day if I can set a PB.”

Nield, a former Pate’s Grammar School pupil who lives in Hucclecote, took up running in 2016.

He joined Gloucester AC three years ago – he’s now their press officer – and is something of an all-rounder because he says his favourite distance is 5K.

“I love parkruns,” he said. “I do one nearly every week. My PB is 18.47.”

His wife Selena has also caught the running bug, as has his oldest son Arthur, 16, a pupil at Churchdown School.

“He’s a very good runner,” said Nield. “He does parkruns in less than 17 minutes.”

Both Selena and Arthur, along with Nield’s younger son Henry, 13, will be in London on Sunday  to cheer him on.

And Nield, a wealth consultant for St James’s Place in Cirencester, is also excited because the race gives him the chance to raise money for good causes.

“I’m raising funds for Gloucester AC para-athlete Charlie Price,” he said.

Price is targeting a place at the Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 and Nield continued: “I’m hoping to raise £3,000 or £4,000. I’m also raising money for the St James’s Place Charitable Foundation.

Nield said that all the money he raises will be doubled by St James’s Place.

Performing in front of big crowds is not something that is new to the Nield family because his dad Bill, a scrum-half, played 28 games for Gloucester back in the day.

He also played for Old Patesians, Cheltenham and Smiths, and young Henry is following in his grandad’s footsteps because he is a scrum-half at Chosen Hill.

Anyone wishing to support Chris Nield’s London Marathon run can visit www.justgiving.com/page/chris-nield-2