SWINDON Harrier Andrew Sherman has leapt to the top of the 2014 South West rankings after breaking his personal best in the Monumental half marathon in Indianapolis.

The former Great Britain junior international from Wroughton clocked a swift 65 minutes 24 seconds to carve 33 seconds off his previous best of 65:57, which he set on his debut at the distance in the same event a year ago.

That is the quickest time by a South West runner this year and puts Sherman 17th in the UK, with the rankings headed by double Olympic champion Mo Farah.

“After the last five weeks of training being pretty up and down, I’m pretty happy with a 33 second PB but I was bit disappointed to not break 65 minutes, which was one of the hopes,” said Sherman.

“I was jockeying for the lead with six to eight other guys ‘til about the seven mile mark, where I lost a little ground on the front four and missed a break.

“I tried to rally to get back on terms but didn’t quite have it on the day - something I’m looking to improve on in the coming weeks.

“But with a quality field of athletes, including my training partner (fellow Brit Tom Anderson), who won the race, overall I’m happy with the sixth-placed finish.”

Sherman is now based in America, having set up home in Indianapolis, where he works as a web developer after graduating from Butler University and getting married last year.

The former Ridgeway School student races infrequently but has big hopes for the road and will be looking to go a lot quicker at half marathon distance in the coming months.

“I definitely have work to do to move forward in this distance and hopefully with a more smooth build up to the next one, I will be able to make a further dent in my current best,” added Sherman.

“I haven’t flushed out solidly what my next races are but I may be looking for another half in a warmer climate in February time. But that will depend how training goes over coming weeks.”