Marathon man Dan goes for it

May 4 2008

ACCIDENTAL athlete Dan Robinson will go for glory in the Great Edinburgh Run today before having a crack at Olympic gold.

The Englishman only took up the sport seriously eight years ago when he was persuaded to give a local charity jog a go.

But the 33-year-old is now warming up for the marathon at the Beijing Games after making up for lost time.

He revealed: "Getting into athletics was a total fluke.

"I'd never run before but I joined a gym and started doing some jogging.

"One of the trainers spotted me and said I should have a go at a 10K.

"It was in Cheltenham and I ran 32 minutes which is good enough to win a lot of races. So it just went from there."

Robinson's main rival in Edinburgh is Uganda's Boniface Kiprop - a two-time runner-up in the event.