'I was surprised the pace felt manageable'

DORKING & Mole Valley Athletics Club's George James impressed on his Great Britain and Northern Ireland debut, finishing in fifth place in the marathon at the inaugural European Running Championships held in Leuven, Belgium, on Sunday, April 13.

- 

His time of 2 hours, 10 minutes and 10 seconds was a personal best and a new DMVAC club record, surpassing his earlier record of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 19 seconds set in last year's Frankfurt, Germany, marathon.

James had trained in Bogota, Colombia, at altitude for seven and a half weeks in the run-up to the race and started well, hitting the front of the field over the opening kilometres.

He led going through 15km in 45 minutes and 51 seconds but at half-way was in tenth spot.