York expatriate Mark Thorn, pictured above, smashed his personal best time on his way to becoming the third-fastest Briton at the prestigious Lanzarote triathlon.

The 33-year-old former Archbishop Holgate's School pupil and York Sixth Form College student is now intent on setting a qualifying time at next month's triathlon in Switzerland in order to compete in the famous world triathlon championships in Hawaii.

Thorn completed his first Iron Man triathlon in the same Lanzarote event only last year, completing the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, plus 26-mile run, in 11 hours 59 minutes and 4 seconds.

This year he took a massive 15 minutes off that time, and is now just 20 minutes short of the qualifying mark for the world championships. He finished 83rd out of 730 athletes from all over the world and was third Briton home.

Sports bar owner Thorn - who was brought up in Appletree Village, York, and used to keep goal for Dringhouses and swim for York City Baths Club - has lived in Lanzarote for the past nine years.

Updated: 12:55 Friday, June 15, 2001