Mark Steinle bounced back from the disappointment of his Olympic debut in Sydney last October, when he finished sixth in the London Flora Marathon. In Australia, a stomach upset reduced him to a crawl in the second half of the race, but on Sunday, he excelled himself in whats is arguably the highest quality big city marathon in the world.

Five of the starters had bests of inside 2 hours 7 minutes and the field included three-times winner Antonio Pinto; eventual winner Abdelkader El Mouaziz; and Paul Tergat, the fastest ever over the half marathon distance and five-times winner of the World Cross Country Championships.

Undaunted by the quality around him, the 26-year-old athlete from Blackheath Harriers, Bromley, stayed with the leaders as long as he could and when the field split just before halfway, maintained his strength and concentration to finish in a new personal best of 2hrs 10.46.

His reward was selection for the Great Britain team for the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada, in August; a new Blackheath club record and the satisfaction of claiming the scalp of Abel Anton, twice world champion for the distance.

Nick Kinsey was one of the highest-placed Blackheath club veterans in the field as he finished 91st in 2hrs 36.03, while the first female home for the club was Natalie Brightwell in 3:57.20.

And Steinle is not the first club record breaker of the year. That honour fell to Karim Chester, who added nearly two-and-a-half metres to the under-17s' hammer record at the Tonbridge Open Meeting with a throw of 56.40 metres.

In the Kent Women's League Division Two match at Norman Park, the seniors, Kate Bugler and Karyn O'Mahoney had wins in the 800 and 100m. Katy Benneworth did a winning leap of 5.16m in the under-17s long jump and followed with a 12.7secs win in the 80m hurdles. Harriet Robinson did likewise in the under-15s age group, winning the long jump in 4.37m and taking the 75m hurdles in 12.6secs; while Clare Cooper won the javelin to add to her second place in the 100 metres.

Venita Akpofure caught the eye with a win in the under-15s 200m and she also set a new best of 13.3secs in the 100m non- scoring race. Emma Mason threw 14.43m in the javelin and 12.02m in the discus. Serita Solomon set new bests of 1.20m and 10.8sec in the high jump and 75m, while Sophie Robinson clocked a useful 23.0secs for second place in the 150m. There were wins for both the U13s and U15s' 4x100 metre relay teams.

The club is holding a coaching day on Tuesday, May 29, for youngsters in Year 6 and above. For further details, send a SAE to Dave Liston at 70 Sermon Drive, Swanley, Kent. BR8 7HT.