I've just got back from running the New York Marathon. 

What an event. 51,000 people from 120 countries, all running through the five boroughs of the city. 

I had the easiest part, running the marathon. It was much tougher for my family and friends back home because they are always worried about my safety in the big running events in the States, and it didn't help that there was a terrorist attack in New York just as I arrived. 

Security, marathon officials said, would be at the highest level for the marathon. 

And they sent every runner an email with the details, there would be more sand trucks. They're big trucks laden with sand to either absorb the impact of a bomb, or to stop someone from driving a vehicle into runners. 

Every single intersection along that race course was blocked by police cars or humvees.

There were armed police everywhere and I'm sure there would have been plain-clothed police among the 2.5 million supporters who line the streets and cheer you on. 

I thought if anything was going to happen it would be a lone gunman. Sometimes when you're running, you're in a pod of people and you're surrounded by 50 or 100 runners in a very confined area. I thought that would be the biggest risk, one lone gunman, but it didn't happen of course and it didn't stop NMew Yorkers hitting the streets to support the runners. 

They held up some hilarious signs....one said "if you get an uber from here to the finish line it will cost you about $40.15"

And another was about 10 kilometres in the race and it said "you're not even ffff-ing close to the finish line." 

There were some very un-pc signs as well. "run faster, Harvey Weinstein is behind you..." was one of them, and another "you're running a whole lot better than this country is at the moment."

But the point is, the crowd was out in force despite the security situation. 

I was running through the Bronx at one point and I saw a shady figure up on a roof, peaking over the edge of the building. I don't know if he was a member of the police but I know counter-sniper teams were out in force during the marathon, along with sniffer dogs. In fact, the NYPD said they had the highest level of security they'd ever deployed for the marathon. They had a lot of helicopters up too. 

The security threat in America is always extreme but I have never seen such a visual presence like I did in New York. 

I went to the marathon expo, a big event where you go to pick up your number and you can buy a lot of race merchandise. And outside the event were just swarms of armed police and the centre was almost circled entirely by police cars or armoured vehicles.

The Trump tower on 5th avenue, and this will be a permanent presence, had the most heavily armed police I saw throughout my time in New York. They're trigger-ready. They're wearing helmets with visors, full metal jackets, they're carry big semi-automatic guns and their fingers are on the trigger. They're good to go. You can't drive down the streets around the tower, they're all permanently blocked with police cars and huge concrete bollards....but people just walk on by on their way to Saks or Tiffanys and go about their business.

The point is, I don't know how you secure a major American city in the current climate of terrorism and allow 51,000 people to run through 42 kilometres of New York City without incident. But the NYPD pulled it off. 

the main aim of terrorism is to disrupt the western way of life. That's just the times we live in now. There is a constant threat to life. But I take my hat off to the law enforcement agencies in New York. Because, as they continue to say, terrorism will never win and the threat of terrorism should never stop living the life we chose to lead.