London Marathon: Morrison's scenic route

Unlike the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, the Five Valleys of Stroud are not exactly on the mainstream of the global distance-running map. The Slad Valley, one of the five vales that fan out from the central hub of Stroud, is a place of some renown. It was lovingly, lyrically immortalised by Laurie Lee in Cider With Rosie.

"Yeah, I sometimes run up there," Dan Robinson says, patting the head of Tilly, a whippet who mirrors his lean looks. "It's very hilly, very picturesque... I've read a couple of Laurie Lee's books. Actually, when I was younger we went to the Woolpack in Slad one weekend and I think he was there, because he used to go there quite a lot. You get a fantastic view overlooking the valley."

You do indeed. As you do from Yew Tree Cottage, Robinson's superbly appointed residence overlooking the Nails-worth Valley, one of the other four topographical spokes in the Stroud wheel. It is from this glorious Gloucestershire fringe of the Cotswolds that Britain's only major championship medal-winning marathon man of the past 13 years has emerged.

Robinson might not quite be up at the front with Paul Tergat, Haile Gebrselassie and the rest of the East African speed merchants in the Flora London Marathon today (the marathons in Rotterdam, Paris, Turin and Nagano last Sunday were all won by Kenyan-born runners, and the first four in Boston on Monday were also Kenyans), but he will be somewhere close to the top 10 in the 35,000 field, following his alternative, home-grown path to marathon success.

Much has been made of the decline of British distance running since the halcyon days of the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies and Eighties, yet amid the gloom the rise of the Nailsworth marathon man has been an inspirational shaft of light. Robinson only took up running at the age of 24 - hitting the treadmill at the local gym to lose weight after four years at university - but at 32 the pride of Stroud and District Athletics Club has raced in all four of the major championships: the Olympics in Athens in 2004 (finishing 23rd), the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005 (12th, the second European finisher), and both the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and the European Championships in Gothenburg last year.

Robinson also has something tangible to show for pounding out the miles in the steep hills of the Stroud district as an international marathon runner, supported by his work as a part-time sports teacher and the earnings of his wife, Jess, and astutely guided by his coach, Chris Frapwell. At the Commonwealth Games last year Robinson came third behind Samson Ramadhani of Tanzania and Fred Mogaka of Kenya. In the process, he became the first male British marathon runner to win a medal in a major championship since Mark Hudspith gained Commonwealth bronze in Victoria in 1994, and only the second since Charlie Spedding clinched Olympic bronze in Los Angeles in 1984.

"You don't have to be in 2hr 06min or 2hr 07min shape to be competitive in a championship," Robinson maintains. "A championship marathon is usually held on a hilly course in August, with no prize money, no pace-making. If you run 2:13 or 2:14, make the team, get in that shape again, if not better, and run a sensible race, then you're going to be competitive. At the World Championships in Helsinki I think I was something like the 80th fastest out of 100 on the start list and I came 12th."

Robinson defied the odds in the Finnish capital by running smartly, coming through from 55th at halfway. He did the same in Athens and Melbourne. His aim today, though, is not so much to pick his way through the field as to keep pace with the clock.

Since the 2004 London Marathon, Robinson has not had the opportunity to revise his personal best, a relatively modest 2hr 13min 58sec, on a flat, fast non-championship course. "A PB would be good," he ponders, "2:12 would be pleasing; 2:11 would be brilliant," he ponders. "But you never can tell. By 20 miles, you could be hanging on or coming through."

Still, having recorded a half- marathon personal best of 63min 42sec in the Reading event a month ago, the signs are looking good for Dan, the Gloucestershire marathon man. He might not be counting any metaphorical chickens but he has 10 of the real things on the side-garden at Yew Tree Cottage.

"Yeah, I do love it here," Robinson reflects. "It's very hilly and I do most of my training on my own, but I get a lot of support and encouragement living here. When I run through Nailsworth everyone will say, 'Hi, Dan. Good luck for Sunday'. If I was in Boulder, Colorado, training with 2:06 marathon runners, it wouldn't be quite the same."