HANNAH England was happy with her strong finish after coming third in the BUPA Great North Mile, writes STUART WEIR.

The Oxford City athlete clocked 4mins 35.47secs in a race won by Laura Muir (4.34.84) and overtook Hellen Obiri and Laura Weightman in the closing stages.

“I was just trying to stay in the pack for the first half of the race and then make a few positive moves later,” she said.

“I was also trying to make sure I had something left for the finish on the track because in a road mile it is easy to think you are nearer the finish than you are.

“I was pleased with my finish – one of the best finishes I have had all season – so it is good to be going forward rather than backwards.”

England completes her season at Saturday’s The Fifth Avenue Mile in New York.

Former Oxford University student and Scottish Commonwealth Games runner Luke Caldwell was 22nd in the BUPA Great North Run, recording 1hr 7mins 26secs on his half marathon debut.

“The race was terrible to be honest,” he said.

“It had bit of a dodgy stomach for the first few miles which got worse and worse and I had to stop for two minutes after ten miles.

“I had a very long track season, including the Commonwealth Games and decided to end the season with a half-marathon as an experiment”

Another Oxford graduate Fabian Downs was 24th in 1.07.52, while Oxford City’s Darrell Bellinger was 35th in 1.11.42.

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