MICHAEL Green has kept his Olympic dream alive by winning the Huntsville Times Rocket City Marathon in Alabama on Saturday.

The 27-year-old Blackburn Harrier from Great Harwood hit the edge of the bulls-eye for his target time of 2:20 with 2:20:25 and will return home for the London Marathon in April which doubles as the Olympic Trial. If he can reduce his time to sub 2:17 he will have an outside chance of making the team.

It was only Green's third marathon, and his first victory, and afterwards he was justifiably elated.

"I am obviously over the moon with the race" he said. "I achieved so many things in one race that I am still in shock a little.

"Winning a marathon certainly feels a lot different than winning any other kind of race.

"I knew I was capable of 2:20, but doing it with some more left in the tank is a huge bonus.

"My time was a personal best by four minutes and a Blackburn Harriers club record beating the 2:22:47 set by David Wilson in the 1979 Milk Marathon.

"I was three years old when he ran that!

"The time, according to my research ranks me tenth in Great Britain for 2003 - 11th if you count Paula Radcliffe."

Green was particularly pleased that he had managed to run a negative split, completing the second half of the race faster than the first.

His overall pace was 5:22 per mile but ran a fine finish at 5:14 a mile over the last 3.2 miles.

After sharing the pace making duties with Robin Rogers for the first 22 miles, Michael burst away to finish over two minutes clear of defending champion Dennis Simonaitis as Rogers faded to third.

The prize money of $2,000 (about £1,400) will no doubt come in handy as Michael and his American wife Susan are moving from Montgomery in Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia.

Originally he left Britain to take a degree at Troy State University in Alabama, and his latest move is to continue his studies with a PhD in Exercise Physiology.

Atlanta will also offer him some good quality training partners.

"One of my main training partners will be Scottish born Malcolm Campbell who is also aiming for London and is a 2:15 calibre marathon runner," he explained.

"He is still a British citizen just like me and will provide me with some companionship and motivation which I have sorely missed in recent years."

One of Green's heroes is Ron Hill who gave him some marathon advice last year.

"I still have the letter in a frame," he added. Green has discovered that Hill competed in the Huntsville Marathon many years ago, possibly in 1979, but doesn't know whether he won. Maybe Michael has achieved something that even Ron couldn't do!

BURNLEY Athletic Club thrower Abigail Ewart set a Grade One Standard in the under 15 girls hammer in an open meeting at Trafford, winning the competition with 30 metres.