Konstantinos Touse celebrated the end of his first year with Belgrave by winning the Lee Valley Velopark half marathon in east London.

The Greek star was neck and neck with Peterborough's Simon Fell until the 11-mile mark, when Tinos broke away to eventually win by a clear 36 seconds.

"I was lucky because I had someone in front of me and he was pacing me all the way," said Konstantinos, "although the conditions of the race didn't let me chase a better time. "

"We had a lot of wind and the course was hilly. But in the last 3km I left him and ran faster against myself."

Not only was it undulating, but the course was a mentally-challenging 13 laps of a 1-mile course also littered with 5k, 10k and 10-mile runners.

But our man was prepared.

"My training plan was not so easy the last couple of weeks, loads of miles and hill reps. But that's the way if you want to win!"

Years away from running

Konstantinos only returned to the sport earlier this year after a long hiatus from running.

Previously an international competitor in his native Greece, he joined Belgrave and started training with Charlie's endurance groups at Battersea after a chance encounter with a Belgravian in the New Balance store on Oxford Street where he works.

"It was necessary for me to stop racing for a while, because I needed time for me to rest," he says.

Years of hard training as a junior athlete had both reaped their rewards - PBs of 8:19 for 3000m and 14:37 for 5000m as an U21 - but also took their toll on his body. A persistent achilles injury needed a long break to recover.

Now recharged and ready to go, KT has already notched up a Southern Athletics League win in the 5000m at Dartford, a first place in the Regents Park 10k in September, and an impressive 22nd place in a packed field in the Surrey League XC season opener in Richmond Park.

And though he says his goals for 2019 are just "to stay healthy and to run well," with another 1st place under his belt, we're expecting great things.

Results

Runthrough Lee Valley Velopark Half Marathon, 29th December 2018

1	KONSTANTINOS TOUSE	01:14:57	BELGRAVE HARRIERS
2	SIMON FELL	01:15:33	PETERBOROUGH AC
3	ANDREW FLEMING	01:19:26	UTS RUNNING CLUB