TALENTED Kidderminster runner Stuart Hawkes retained his Brighton Marathon title with another brilliant display on the south coast.

Hawkes, who runs for Tipton Harriers, became the first British runner to win the race in 2017 before defending his title last weekend.

He eventually reeled in the long time leader, Cardiff's Dan Nash, with just a mile to go. He then managed to stay with him until producing a surge of his own over the final half mile to win in a time of 2.22.33, which also shaved 4.30 off his personal best.

Hawkes said: "I went into the race believing that I could go under my personal best of 2.26.53 by a good couple of minutes if everything went well on the day.

"After only one mile of the race, Cardiff’s Dan Nash went off the front, I knew of his ability over the shorter distances but not his marathon pedigree. I decided not to go after him because If I did and he then faltered I would be left out in front alone, which can be very mentally tough over such a long distance.

"After 10 miles, the gap was nearly two minutes and I decided to make a concerted effort to close it down. The group I was with managed to stay with me up to mile 13 but then it was just me against Dan.

"Although the gap was closing, Dan was still moving very well and after 18 mile the gap was still around 50 seconds. At this point I had kind of settled for second place but I was determined to keep my pace high as I was on for a big PB.

"With three miles to go it was down to 17 seconds, I had no choice but to go for the win. I pulled alongside Dan with a mile to go, he was shocked to see me and put in a surge for the line. I had used a lot of energy to close the gap and it took everything I had to stay with him. Dan’s increase in pace only lasted 200m or so and I could tell his energy levels were low. At this point I attacked and managed to open up a gap of nearly 20 seconds over the last half mile.

"Brighton is England’s second biggest marathon so to win it once was amazing, to win it a second time and to beat my previous PB in the process is just unbelievable."