Courtney’s time of 1:7:18 was five minutes faster than his 2008 effort and only two minutes shy of the race record held by renowned Western Australian distance runner Ray Boyd.

Courtney led the field from start to finish and, without any pack of runners for protection, had to deal with strong winds and rain along the way.

The 21.1 kilometre half marathon course starts at the WA Marathon Headquarters at Burswood, along the South Perth foreshore to the University of Western Austrlalia in Nedlands and return.

Courtney attributes his great improvement in time to the training program devised by coach Ray Boyd which includes running 140 kilometres per week and to his two-week stint at altitude training at Falls Creeks in the Victorian Alps last January.

Courtney believes his peak in running is still at least three or four years away and will continue his training and racing program this year with the Launceston 10 kilometre road race on July 19, followed by the National XC Championships in Nowra, New South Wales on August 30.