Western Tempo enjoyed a thrilling 1-2-3 at this year’s Cheltenham Half Marathon.

Dom James edged out Jack Bancroft in a grandstand finish at Cheltenham Racecourse, winning by just one second in one hour, nine minutes, 37 seconds.

Third place went to Ben Price, who, like James, is a past winner of the ever-popular event. Price completed the 13.1-mile course in 1.10.51.

This was the fourth time that 27-year-old James has won the race and he admitted it was the best yet.

“It was great, it’s always the highlight of my year,” he said. “It gets great support, my family and friends are all watching, it’s great to win in front of them.”

And he certainly had to dig deep with Bancroft, who has recently joined Western Tempo, pushing him all the way.

“I knew he was a good runner, he’s run a 2.24 marathon,” said James. “I had to work really hard for the win, particularly over the last 400.

“He went past me with 400 metres to go and I thought he might go on and win, but I managed to cling on and over the last 100 I got past him in a sprint finish.”

It was a very different race to last year when James finished two-and-a-half minutes clear of his nearest rival and he admitted: “I wasn’t able to jog in and soak up the atmosphere this year but it was certainly special to have three Western Tempo runners on the podium.”

The 2,000-plus runners had to battle extremely warm conditions yesterday with Cheltenham Harrier Max Kelly, who came home in eighth, saying: “It was hot when we started and it felt like we were battling the heat for the whole race.

“It was particularly hot around the racecourse, I was dripping with sweat when I crossed the line.”

Kelly completed in 1.11.36, which is some five minutes outside his PB.

“I ran 1.11 in Liverpool about five months ago,” he said. “I think the heat yesterday added about three or minutes to my time.”

And Kelly was full of praise for the top three finishers.

“Dom is an extremely good runner,” he said. “He’s the best runner around here, he’s really good. Western Tempo have got some top runners, Ben Price is also very good.”

Rob Green of CLC Striders was fourth home in 1.15.04 and clubmate Joe Willgoss was the seventh runner home in 1.15.40.

And despite the heat, Kelly, who was the first Cheltenham Harrier across the finishing line, added: “It was a really good day.”