TAVISTOCK athlete Jim Cole is making a successful return following his comeback from a serious back injury 18 months ago.

Cole, a local point-to-point trainer and rider broke a vertebra in the back in November 2009 and, despite attempting a comeback in the summer of 2010, had to stop again in order to recover completely. Following a couple of weeks running in April he entered the Saltash Half-Marathon, arguably the toughest road in the South West, and finished second in 79 minutes. Two weeks later, having survived this 'kill or cure run' he won the Ivybridge 10k in 32mins 48secs — his his first road success since 2009.

The Plymouth half at the end of May saw him run 72mins 14secs and achieve a creditable 10th position in a high quality race which saw South African runners in the top six places. Lack of race miles saw disappointed to lose to two places in the last 2 miles but the race certainly brought on his fitness.

This month has seen him win the Cubert 5 (Newquay) in 25mins 40secs, and last week he went to Cleverdon, near Bristol, to win the Midsummer 10k in 31.37mins — the fastest winning time in the last few years, and a mere 10 seconds slower than his personal best.