It’s been a whirlwind few days for Western Tempo runner Jacob Cann.

When the 25-year-old spoke to The Local Answer he was just preparing to leave his parents’ home in Cheltenham to drive to Shrewsbury before starting a new job in finance and admin today.

And yesterday’s journey up the M5 came just 48 hours after he’d competed for Great Britain in the World Athletics Cross-Country Championships in the US.

They took place in Tallahassee, Florida, and Cann was part of a four-strong GB team which finished 11^th overall.

He was the third member of the team to complete the 10K course – he was ahead of British road race 10K record-holder Rory Leonard – finishing 71^st in 32 minutes, seven seconds.

“It was tough, it was hot and really humid,” admitted Cann, who flew out to the US on Wednesday and was representing GB for the second time.

His first GB run was also high-profile – the European Cross-Country Championships in Portugal last month – when he clocked 23 minutes, eight seconds, to finish 29^th in a race over 7.3K.

As with his run in Florida, Cann felt he could have done better but now he has had a taste of running at the level, he wants more.

“Of course,” he said. “Those two runs have given me the motivation to push on, it’s definitely something I want to do.”

Cann’s next run is expected to be over 3K at the UK Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham in the middle of next month.

He’s looking forward to the outdoor season too – his best distances are the 1,500 metres and the 5K – and he’s certainly come on in leaps and bounds.

“He’s just got better and better over the past two years,” said his proud dad Neil.

“Two years ago he represented England for the first time and we thought that was great, then he got selected for Great Britain, it just feels like he’s achieving more and more.”

Neil and his wife Diane were in the Algarve to cheer on their son, who is 6ft 2in, just before Christmas.

They moved back to this part of the world in the last couple of years – Neil is a former Cleeve School pupil – after  Jacob grew up just outside Worthing in Sussex.

Jacob, who is a Brighton football fan, joined Western Tempo in March and is thoroughly enjoying being part of the club.

“They are a great group to train with,” he said.