LAMERTON athlete Jim Cole may have suffered a nightmare build up to the Lloyds TSB Cardiff Half Marathon but he bounced back in style to record a personal best.

The 29-year-old endurance runner was travelling to the race with fellow Tavistock Athletic Club member Tom Merson yet took a wrong turning en route to reaching the start line.

The error resulted in a sprint to join the other elite athletes for the kick off but Cole responded by shaving nearly a second off his lifetime best, recording 69.31minutes in Wales.

Kenyan Edwin Kiptoo powered to victory in 63.26, with Cole in eighth and Merson eleventh, and the former Tavistock College pupil also admitted his preparations were hampered by injury.

'I had been running really well so my aim was to do a real fast one in about 68 or 69," said Jim. 'But I'd pushed my preparations up to 50 miles per week and I'd been suffering hip problems as a result.

'Then I ended up rushing to the starting line and only arrived with three minutes to spare. Tom and I had parked two miles from the track and we arrived in plenty of time but we ended up going towards the back instead of the front at the start line.

'We realised very late and had to sprint up to the front, so it wasn't the ideal start, but we kept a good pace in a challenging race and kept up with the Kenyans for the first two miles.'

Jim is dusting his boots down to race in the Tavy7 on Sunday and revealed he is kicking on with his running this winter in an aim to shave more time off his personal best.

Usually at this time of year, Jim would be turning his attentions to his other passion – training racehorses – but the part-time jockey is determined to improve his speed away from the saddle.

'I've started doing the cross-country season, so I am going to carry on as long as I can,' he added. "I just want to work on getting quicker because I know I can, I've just got to keep pushing it.

'I'd like to build myself up for some marathons so I will carry on putting the miles in.'

Lloyds TSB is proud to help Barnardo's make a difference by sponsoring the Cardiff Half Marathon. For more information visit http://www.cardiffhalfmarathon.co.uk">www.cardiffhalfmarathon.co.uk