diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 578278c..6a1cb87 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ When you decode a JSON number into an any type the value will have the underlyin
 
 The `json.Number` type then provides an `Int64()` method that you can call to get the number as an `int64`, or the `String()` method to get the number as a `string`. For example:
 
-```
+```golang
 js := `10`
 
 var n any
@@ -251,3 +251,13 @@ Using the `errors.Is()` and `errors.As()` functions you can handle these errors
 |-------------|------------------------------------------|----------------|-----------------------------------------|
 | `errors.Is` | Compare error values (with wrapping)     | Specific value | `errors.Is(err, io.EOF)`               |
 | `errors.As` | Check and extract a specific error type  | Specific type  | `errors.As(err, *json.SyntaxError)`    |
+
+#### Custom Decoding
+
+If we want to perform some kind of custom decoding for our type, this can be done with the json.Unmarshaler interface
+
+```golang
+type Unmarshaler interface {
+    UnmarshalJSON([]byte) error
+}
+```
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cmd/api/handlers.go b/cmd/api/handlers.go
index e42615b..5d357a0 100644
--- a/cmd/api/handlers.go
+++ b/cmd/api/handlers.go
@@ -18,10 +18,12 @@ func (app *application) createMovieHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Reques
 
 	// just like encoding the field names need to be exported to have Decode set them
 	var input struct {
-		Title   string   `json:"title"`
-		Year    int32    `json:"year"`
-		Runtime int32    `json:"runtime"`
-		Genres  []string `json:"genres"`
+		Title string `json:"title"`
+		Year  int32  `json:"year"`
+		// implemented an Unmarshaler receiver for this
+		// Runtime int32    `json:"runtime"`
+		Runtime data.Runtime `json:"runtime"`
+		Genres  []string     `json:"genres"`
 	}
 
 	// reads from the request body and decodes to our input struct
@@ -61,9 +63,9 @@ func (app *application) getMovieHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request)
 		ID:        id,
 		CreatedAt: time.Now(),
 		Title:     "Eisenhorn",
-		Runtime:   102,
-		Genres:    []string{"sci-fi", "action"},
-		Version:   1,
+		// Runtime:   102,
+		Genres:  []string{"sci-fi", "action"},
+		Version: 1,
 	}
 	app.logger.Info("Hit the get movies and found", "movie", movie.Title)
 
diff --git a/cmd/api/handlers_test.go b/cmd/api/handlers_test.go
index 2c85814..6050ad0 100644
--- a/cmd/api/handlers_test.go
+++ b/cmd/api/handlers_test.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func TestHealthRoute(t *testing.T) {
 func TestCreateMovieHandler(t *testing.T) {
 	respRec := httptest.NewRecorder()
 
-	requestBody := `{"title": "Moana", "year": 2019, "runtime": 120, "genres": ["family", "Samoan"]}`
+	requestBody := `{"title": "Moana", "year": 2019, "runtime": "120 mins", "genres": ["family", "Samoan"]}`
 
 	r, err := http.NewRequest(http.MethodPost, "/v1/movies", strings.NewReader(requestBody))
 	if err != nil {
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func TestCreateMovieError(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name:     "Send unknown field",
-			input:    strings.NewReader(`{"title": "Moana", "year": 2019, "runtime": 120, "genres": ["family", "Samoan"], "rating": "PG"}`),
+			input:    strings.NewReader(`{"title": "Moana", "year": 2019, "runtime": "120 mins", "genres": ["family", "Samoan"], "rating": "PG"}`),
 			wantBody: "body contains unknown key",
 			wantCode: http.StatusBadRequest,
 		},
@@ -131,6 +131,12 @@ func TestCreateMovieError(t *testing.T) {
 			wantBody: "body must not be larger than 1048576 bytes",
 			wantCode: http.StatusBadRequest,
 		},
+		{
+			name:     "Send invalid runtime",
+			input:    strings.NewReader(`{"title": "Moana", "runtime": 120}`),
+			wantBody: "invalid runtime format",
+			wantCode: http.StatusBadRequest,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range tests {
diff --git a/internal/data/types.go b/internal/data/types.go
index 9e732c1..ed088c5 100644
--- a/internal/data/types.go
+++ b/internal/data/types.go
@@ -1,10 +1,16 @@
 package data
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 )
 
+// Define an error that our UnmarshalJSON() method can return if we're unable to parse
+// or convert the JSON string successfully.
+var ErrInvalidRuntimeFormat = errors.New("invalid runtime format")
+
 // Declare a custom Runtime type, which has the underlying int32 type
 type Runtime int32
 
@@ -25,3 +31,42 @@ func (r Runtime) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 
 	return []byte(quotedJSONValue), nil
 }
+
+// Implement a UnmarshalJSON() method on the Runtime type so that it satisfies the
+// json.Unmarshaler interface. IMPORTANT: Because UnmarshalJSON() needs to modify the
+// receiver (our Runtime type), we must use a pointer receiver for this to work
+// correctly. Otherwise, we will only be modifying a copy (which is then discarded when
+// this method returns).
+func (r *Runtime) UnmarshalJSON(jsonValue []byte) error {
+	// We expect that the incoming JSON value will be a string in the format
+	// "<runtime> mins", and the first thing we need to do is remove the surrounding
+	// double-quotes from this string. If we can't unquote it, then we return the
+	// ErrInvalidRuntimeFormat error.
+	unquotedJSONValue, err := strconv.Unquote(string(jsonValue))
+	if err != nil {
+		return ErrInvalidRuntimeFormat
+	}
+
+	// Split the string to isolate the part containing the number.
+	parts := strings.Split(unquotedJSONValue, " ")
+
+	// Sanity check the parts of the string to make sure it was in the expected format.
+	// If it isn't, we return the ErrInvalidRuntimeFormat error again.
+	if len(parts) != 2 || parts[1] != "mins" {
+		return ErrInvalidRuntimeFormat
+	}
+
+	// Otherwise, parse the string containing the number into an int32. Again, if this
+	// fails return the ErrInvalidRuntimeFormat error.
+	i, err := strconv.ParseInt(parts[0], 10, 32)
+	if err != nil {
+		return ErrInvalidRuntimeFormat
+	}
+
+	// Convert the int32 to a Runtime type and assign this to the receiver. Note that we
+	// use the * operator to deference the receiver (which is a pointer to a Runtime
+	// type) in order to set the underlying value of the pointer.
+	*r = Runtime(i)
+
+	return nil
+}