NOT all roads led to London at the weekend as Stuart Temple’s decision to head north and run the Blackpool marathon was fully vindicated with an excellent performance, writes KEVIN FAHEY.

In only his second marathon, the 30-year-old from Old Town, who is a member of Sinn Allstars, smashed his personal best by over 10 minutes with a time of two hours 48 minutes 19 seconds.

Not only that, but Temple also ran well enough to finish second overall and set a new club record, which could well be his for years to come as he continues to improve.

“I still cannot believe it, to be honest,” said Temple.

“Before the race I was hoping for a time between 2:50-2:55 as my debut was on a hilly course (he completed the inaugural Bristol to Bath event last year in 2:58:29).

“But I never expected to do as well as that, no way.”

Starting steadily on Blackpool seafront with a course that included out-and-back sections along the world famous promenade, Temple soon found himself in third place.

“The two guys in front were running together and I was on my own in third with a gap to fourth,” added Temple.

“At one of the turns at the end of the prom, the eventual winner burst clear, setting a pace that I couldn’t live with. So I settled for catching the chap in second and when I overtook him and opened a gap, I managed to hold that until the finish.

“The last few miles were tough but once I got to 23 miles I knew I just had to keep my momentum going. When I crossed the line, I could not believe I was second and in a personal best.”

Temple believes he may have run even faster as allowing for the fact that he took 20 seconds to cross the start line, he reckons he completed the 26.2 miles in just under 2:48 but it is the official time that counts and he is not too upset.

“That is definitely my best ever performance,” said Temple.

“I trained really hard for the marathon and it has proved to be worthwhile.”

The performance continues a great start to 2016 for Temple, who works as an administrator at the Great Western Hospital, with victory in the Devizes half marathon – the first of his career - following on from his personal best of 77:55 in the Bath Half.

“You get a great buzz from running well and I want that again,” said Temple.