TYTHERINGTON international athlete Dan Studley is catching the eye.

The 27-year-old former Marlwood and Thornbury Castle schoolboy posted a17th place finish in the Barcelona half marathon from more than 16,000 runners. He was also first Great Britain finisher from a very large United Kingdom entry, including a welsh national team.

His time of 63 minutes and 58 seconds was a personal best time and ranks the Bristol Athletics club runner the second fastest in Great Britain for the half marathon this year . The run proved that his intensive warm weather training camp in Southern Spain since Christmas , had been a success. The winner of the race was Kenyan Eric Kiptanui in 61 minutes and four seconds , who headed a strong group of African entries

Dan’s next race will hopefully be the Reading Half Marathon in March, before he heads back on to the track in the summer to target his 5k and 10k personal best times which are 13.53 and 29.15 respectively.

Ashley Loveridge spoke to Dan ahead of his next test in Reading and his future Olympic ambitions.

AL: How pleased were you with your race in Barcelona?

DS: Yes, it was a solid start to 2019, and a nice reward for a productive five-week training camp in Spain. I knew I was capable of running a PB (64:23 before) from how training had gone, although was probably a little too ambitious in the first half of the race (through 10k in under 30 minutes (29:56)) but still happy to get under the 64 minute barrier.

AL: Reading next month is your next race?

DS: Yes, the Reading Half Marathon will be my next race before a pacemaking job at the London Marathon at the end of April. I am looking towards the marathon distance so these are all good stepping-stones towards making my debut either at the end of 2019 or early 2020.

AL: Since leaving education, where are you based now?

DS: I graduated a while back in 2014 from Oxford Brooke University, and have lived in Loughborough for the past four years working as a part-time Elite Sport Tutor alongside my training.

AL: Future athletics goals?

DS: There aren't any championships to qualify for in the half marathon in 2019, but my goals will be trying to again make the World Half Marathon Champs team in 2020, as well as aiming towards the Olympic team for the 2020 marathon in Tokyo.