A CHELMSFORD runner came 19th in this year's London Marathon – making him the fifth fastest British competitor.
Springfield Strider Paul Molyneux ran a time of 2:21:54 – a personal best – just 15 minutes behind Ethiopian race winner Tsegaye Kebede.
The 32-year-old came fourth out the non-professional runners, with his previous best being tenth in 2011. Paul, a captain in the Army Medical Corps, told the Chronicle: "I'm really pleased to get a personal best, but a bit disappointed I didn't break the 2:20:00 barrier.
"Running takes up a huge part of my life so I'm just happy to run and achieve a personal best. Hopefully, I can break a sub-20 time next year."
Paul, who ran the Boston Marathon last year, said he was in his best shape for years. "It was 35 degrees so my time wasn't as good as I'd hoped," he said. "At London it was nice to get back to the level I had a few years ago."
Paul is a member of the Springfield Striders and has been running for ten years, competing in his first marathon in 2003, and taking part in more than 30 since.
He said: "I run all year round, but three months before I start the intensive training routines, which involve running longer and longer runs."
At the peak of his training, he runs about 80- 90 miles-a-week.
"I managed to beat my personal best by 20 seconds, but I had to run the last eight miles on my own, the last 35 km I dropped the pace a bit," he said.
"It's much easier if you're in a group because you push each other on." He added: "We got to about 13 miles and one guy in our group sped off and did about 2:19, I managed to catch him up a bit, but really I was on my own."
Paul plans to run either the Frankfurt Marathon in October or the New York Marathon in November, and has set his sights on dipping under the 2:20:00 barrier.
