A man from Bolton finished in the top 40 places of the Manchester Marathon on Sunday – and has his eyes set on even bigger goals.

James Scott-Farrington, 28, who lives in Heaton, originally wanted to be a footballer.

But when he was in his teens he watched the iconic Ironman event in Bolton and decided that was for him.

He has now been training with the Horwich RMI Harriers Athletics Club since he was 18.

The event consists of a 2.4 miles swim, 112 mile bike ride and then a run of 26 miles.

And James took to the start line in Trafford at the weekend for his first marathon.

He finished 35th in the race with a times of two hours and 33 minutes.

James said: “The atmosphere was unbelievable all the way through Sale and Altrincham and everywhere, it was fantastic.

“I was looking to do a time of two hours and 23 minutes but really I was just happy to see how far I could manage to run at that pace.

“It was just in the last 10 kilometres I began to struggle, it was just fatigue.

James has competed in more than 20 of the middle distance Ironman events before and in June this year will travel to Hamburg for his first attempt at a full one.

He has been classed as professional based on his performances to date.

He said: “I am nervous about it.

“I am just hoping to do well.

“It is pretty difficult, to finish in the top ten would be fantastic.

“I would probably say I was best at running, on the bike I struggle, my swimming is fine, it is good compared to the other people in the field.”

He also has a lot of praise for his club. 

He said: “It is a great community.

“There was a lot of advice from people that have done marathons before.”

James also has advice for people who are just getting into running.

He said: “I would probably just say you have to start doing short distances but consistently and then build up slowly over time because you don’t really want to get an injury.”