Last updated at 12:27, Wednesday, 23 May 2012

School teacher James Douglas ran the race of his life to finish 30th in the BUPA Great Manchester Run 10K which was won for the fifth time by Ethiopian superstar Haile Gebrselassie.

James Douglas

Douglas shaved five seconds off his personal best with his time of 30min 31sec to finish 30th in a field of 40,000, including top-class international runners.

Gebrselassie, the former World and Olympic champion, turned in a vintage performance to set the fastest time in the world this year ahead of a possible shot at the 10,000m at the London Games.

The 39-year-old clocked 27min 39min during his fourth consecutive Manchester victory to see off his young Ethiopian rivals Tsegaye Kebede, the Beijing 2008 Olympic marathon bronze medallist, and former world junior cross country champion Ayele Abshero.

Gebrselassie will run 10,000m in Hengelo, Holland, next Sunday in a race which will double as the Ethiopian Olympic trials and the top three will take on Britain’s Mo Farah in London.

Douglas, a 26-year-old Border Harrier from Penrith who teaches at the town’s Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, continued his impressive year after transferring his cross-country form onto the road.

“I was really pleased with my performance as I was ahead of some runners I’d never beaten before and I improved my personal best,” he said.

“The good time was what I was after, but it wasn’t as quick as I wanted so there is still room for improvement.

“It was an elite field of quality club runners and the top African runners so it was great to compete in that kind of company.”

Earlier this year, Douglas finished 30th while representing Cumbria in the Inter-Counties Cross-Country Championships in Birmingham and was 11th in the Northern Cross-Country Championships in Pontefract.

He will return to the track when he runs in the 5,000m for Border Harriers at their Northern League meeting at Carlisle’s Sheepmount Stadium on Saturday.

He is now aiming to improve his performances over 5,000m and has targeted a time of 14min 20sec.

Douglas, the 2010 Brampton to Carlisle Road Race winner, said: “I had a good cross-country season and that has set me up well for the track and road races as it’s built up my fitness and strength.

“There’s quite a lot coming up this year as there is the Carlisle 10K next month and I will also be doing some British Milers’ Club races on the track.”

First published at 11:29, Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk