Shropshire runner Paul Ward is still setting personal bests at the age of 42 – so it’s no real surprise that he’s received his first England international call-up.

The Wrekin Road Runner has been selected to represent his country in an over-40s international cross-country race against Wales, Scotland and Ireland on November 15 in Swansea. 

It will be the pinnacle of his running career for the Shrewsbury-based athlete and he’s really looking forward to representing England in the 8km race. 

Selection for the England team, he says, could not have been further from his mind when he tore a calf muscle in February. 

He was unable to run for four weeks and didn’t feel he was fully back in his stride until May.

But he’s not looked back since and, having finished fifth in the National Masters 5k Championships in June, he surpassed that by coming in second in the National Masters 10k at Loughborough in a time of 32mins 50secs.

He’s continued to run at a consistently high standard, doing enough to catch the eye of the national selectors.

“When I received the letter saying that I had been selected for the team, I was elated and did five laps of the house,” he said.

Ward, who lives in the Shirehall area of Shrewsbury, stepped up his preparations for his international debut by finishing sixth overall and the first over-40 runner home in the Cardiff half marathon last weekend, clocking  71:17.

“I’m running probably better than ever,” he added. “I’m running personal bests – which is probably unheard of at 42!”