Leicestershire's Tim Hartley was £1,000 better off after winning the Adidas Flora London Half-Marathon at Silverstone's motor-racing circuit in Northamptonshire.

The 13.1-miler - the official warm-up race for the London Marathon on Sunday April 13 - offered one of the best prize-money lists to British-only runners, and Hartley struck the jackpot to land the biggest pay-day of his career.

Just two months short of his 40th birthday, Hartley took an early lead, and never relinquished it despite tiring in the later stages. "Obviously, I was well pleased," said Hartley yesterday. "Did winning a grand make me run any better? No, not really."

Hartley, a former Nottingham Marathon champion and the County's top finisher in last year's Inter-Counties Cross-Country Championships, led home the 4,900-plus field in 68min 7sec, just 62 seconds off his lifetime-best of 67.06.

He went through two miles in 10.09, and by five miles, timed at 25.28, he had a 10-second lead on the chasing pack. The 39-year-old went through 10 miles in 51.33, 42 seconds clear and, despite struggling to maintain his rhythm in the blustery wind, stretched his lead to almost a minute at 12 miles before easing slightly over the closing stretch.

Tipton runner-up Martin Williams closed to within 40 seconds at the line, with Owls' British Masters champion Gordon Lee fourth in 1.10.54, a placing that earned him £300.

Hartley said: "I felt I was in 67-minute shape and I wanted to do 66, but my legs were tired towards the end and I lost it a bit. It was very windy and it was very open - there was nowhere to hide. "But if I get the right race on the right day and the right field, I'm sure I can get close to 66."