A new marathon man is building towards the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Former Stevenage runner Matt Smith (right), now based in Loughborough, set a new fastest time at the recent Dublin Marathon. It was only the fifth ever marathon for the 31-year-old and h

A new marathon man is building towards the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Former Stevenage runner Matt Smith (right), now based in Loughborough, set a new fastest time at the recent Dublin Marathon.

It was only the fifth ever marathon for the 31-year-old and his time of 2-14:41 was two minutes better than his previous top time to come fifth in the race.

His time has put him second in the British rankings for the marathon this year.

Smith said: "The Dublin run was a really good atmosphere as you would imagine and I enjoy the big city events. I'm now high up in the British rankings and I would like to thank all of my supporters locally for all their help in me reaching this far."

His target now is the 2008 Olympics in Beijing when qualification will largely be determined by results at the London Marathon of that year.

Two FVS TRI members compete on the world stage this month.

Gavin May has flown to Florida this week to compete in the 70.3 Half Ironman World Championships on Sunday. The 70.3 is so called as it is the sum of the 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1 mile run!

Kevin Smart will return to GB age group duty as he also flies off next week to compete in the ITU World Age Group Long Distance Championships in Canberra, Australia.

North Herts Road Runners had two runners in the New York City Marathon. Veteran Stewart Bryant ran superbly to complete the testing course through the five boroughs in 3-14:16 while Inga Hass knocked more than 30 minutes off the time she ran in the London Marathon to finish in 4-35:15.

Two Fairlands Valley Spartans took part in the Dublin Marathon as Monday, October 30, was a holiday in Ireland.

Gary Mulhern finished in 4-16:09 and Andrew Hull in 4-28:42.