ANDY Davies celebrated his achievement after a 31st place finish in the World Championships marathon in London on Sunday.

The popular long distance runner from Newtown was inundated with support from his fanbase across Montgomeryshire and did not disappoint with a superb run.

British team-mate Callum Hawkins achieved a fourth place, equalling a 22 year British record with Kenyan Geoff Kirui triumphing over Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola and Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu completing the podium.

However Davies underlined his own prowess, crossing the line in 31st place in a time of 21:17:59 to boost his own bid for Welsh selection for next year’s Wales squad for the Commonwealth Games.

Davies dedicated his performance to the memory of James Corfield, the Montgomery cricketer who tragically died in Builth Wells earlier in the month.

Davies sported a blue heart tattoo on his left shoulder in memory of the talented sportsman.

“I’m very pleased with my performance on a very challenging course,” said Davies.

“I underestimated how tough it was going to be until I went for a jog around a bit of it the day before.

“I knew then that the heat and hills would get a lot of people, and it proved. I had to run sensibly and it worked out on the day.

“The last few miles were tough but managed to hold out until the end.

“It was an amazing experience in all and would like to do it all again one day.

“I experienced something like that at Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games but that was on par. It was incredible, you had to lap all the atmosphere up.

“It was an unbelievable performance from Callum to get a 2:10 on that course. That’s probably two to three minutes slower that a normal course, so what an incredible run.

“I’m a bit gutted for him to miss out on the medals but he’s got plenty of time and I’m sure they’ll come thick and fast before too long.”

Davies now plans to spend the rest of the summer resting before returning to action in Autumn.

“I will enjoy some rest now before a Half Marathon this Autumn and then continue my efforts to book my place in the Welsh squad for next summer’s Commonwealth Games.”