EILIDH Bell produced one of the best performances of her career as she shattered her personal best in the Stroud half marathon.

The Chippenham-based runner took almost three minutes off her previous best as she leapt from 82mins 26secs to 79mins 31secs for second place behind former England international Rachel Felton in the Gloucestershire event on Sunday.

To underline the quality of that run, it lifts Bell to fourth in the South West rankings and second in Wiltshire behind Avon Valley Runners’ international athlete Ruth Barnes, who tops the lists with her lifetime best of 74:59 on her debut for Great Britain in Spain last February.

Bell, who competes for Team Bath AC having previously been a member of Chippenham Harriers, said: “That is definitely a big breakthrough for me and I am very pleased with my run.

“It was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to break 1hr 20mins and thought I had a good chance to do that in the Great North Run last month but it just didn’t happen for me on the day (Bell finished in 82:47).

“But in Stroud, I felt really strong and it all went right.”

With a hill halfway around the course and a long climb to the finish, the Stroud course isn’t the fastest on the circuit but it certainly suited Bell as she paced her effort perfectly to finish ahead of former World Ironman champion Chrissie Wellington.

“Going up the final hill to the finish felt pretty awful but I was so pleased to beat Chrissie as I have read all her books and I got to warm down with her after the race so that was special,” added Bell.

“That is one of my best races ever without doubt and is a big confidence boost after the disappointment of the Great North Run.”

Bell believes that the extra training she is doing in preparation for her next marathon is the main reason behind her big improvement as she smashed through the landmark 1hr 20mins barrier.

“Since August, I have been training pretty hard for the San Sebastian marathon, in Spain, at the end of November,” said Bell.

“I have been putting in some consistently good weeks of high mileage and it obviously all came together at the weekend.

“I now have a 10k planned in Wales next month before I begin my taper down for the marathon.”

Earlier this year, Bell achieved a similar breakthrough at the marathon distance as she burst through the three-hour barrier for the first time with 2hrs 50mins 13secs in the Asics Manchester event.

On the evidence of her run in Stroud and with a fair wind on the day in northern Spain, a sub 2:50 time now looks well within Bell’s range.