CHRIS Roxburgh’s decision to link up with coach Holly Rush is clearly paying dividends after he smashed his personal best and broke the Avon Valley Runners’ club record in the Gloucester 20.

The former Wales hockey international and more recently duathlon star, from Trowbridge, is now concentrating solely on his running, and with former marathon and ultra expert Rush offering guidance, Roxburgh is making good progress.

“I was already friends with Holly and I asked her to help me last summer,” said Roxburgh, who works as a paramedic in Warminster.

“I then won the Lacock half marathon and did the Birmingham marathon which I completed in 2hrs 49mins 07secs though I was jogging and walking towards the end.

“Over the winter I have been building up my miles and I am now looking forward to Manchester.”

With Rush offering guidance Roxburgh has been following a more structured training regime and the benefit of that was clearly seen in Gloucester last weekend.

“I was completely surprised with that as it was not part of the plan but it is a great confidence boost ahead of the Manchester Marathon on April 8,” said Roxburgh.

“I had intended to go out at 6mins 05secs miling pace for the first half of the race but I went off quicker and after running in 11th place for a while, jumped across to sixth and then fifth.

“Towards the end of the second and penultimate lap I gave it a real dig and started to catch the guy in fourth.

“I ended up running negative splits, which was good and I felt strong. Coach was pleased with my run and now it is on to Manchester. I must make sure I recover well and stay injury free.

“I am aiming for around 2hrs 37mins but who knows what might happen on the day.”

Rush, who lives in Bradford on Avon, continues to practice what she preaches as she finished third in the women’s race and also led Avon Valley Runners to the team title with support from Diane Hier and Ali Atkinson.

n IN America Team Bath’s Emily Dixon, who is on a scholarship at Elon University in North Carolina, had a busy day in the Winthrop Adidas Invitational meeting.

The former St Augustine’s student notched a PB in the senior javelin (33.14m), a season’s best in the 100m hurdles (14.92secs) plus recorded 1.59m in the high jump and 61.65secs for the 400m.

n ALSO in America, Box athlete Livia Gauntlett, who is at Harvard University, ran a wind-assisted 13.86secs (+4.6w) for the 100m hurdles at the Cougar Spring Break Open in Houston followed by a legal 14.33secs in North Carolina last weekend.