Marathon man Dan Robinson fails to fulfil his European mission

MARATHON runner Dan Robinson missed out on his target of a top-10 finish in Barcelona yesterday.

Robinson, from Nailsworth, was hoping to finish in under two hours 15 minutes in the European Athletics Championships.

But in blistering hot conditions, Robinson, 35, had to settle for 19th place and a time of two hours, 24 minutes, six seconds.

The race was won by Switzerland's Viktor Rothlin who secured gold in a time of 2:15.31 with Spain's Juan Martinez crossing the line in a time of 2:17.50 for silver and Russia's Dmitriy Safronov in bronze position in a time of 2:18.16.

Britons David Webb (in 16th position), Ben Moreau (24th) and Martin Williams (28th) also competed.

Robinson had flown out to Spain on Friday, deciding not to join the majority of the GB team who had been preparing at camps in Portugal or at high altitude in the Pyrenees.

Robinson made his major debut at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

He has since competed in two World Championships, the 2006 Commonwealth Games when he won a bronze medal, the Europeans and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.