MARATHON man Dan Robinson flies out to Barcelona on today brimming with confidence ahead of the European Championships.

Great Britain’s number one Marathon runner is now fighting fit for the big race on Sunday after dropping out of the London Marathon with calf trouble near half distance, but has since recovered.

“It cleared up pretty quickly, I think I didn't do too much damage to it, said Robinson.

“Preparation for Barcelona has gone well - have been training at home, the warm summer has been good for acclimatisation.

“I've had some good weeks and some decent training and races. I've raced a number of times in the build up, 3 10k's which went reasonably well.”

The Stroud AC athlete finished 16th at Gothenburg four years ago and will be drawing on all his championship experience.

He said: “Running on Sunday in Barcelona is going to be very hot. Tactics, and running a sensible even pace will be key to a good race. “My previous championship experience should stand me in good stead, particularly when it gets tough after halfway.

“The heat and humidity will be the biggest problem and trying to stay hydrated will be important.”

Robinson heads a team of six British marathon runners and the big squad is because of a different format: "It's a separate team event if you like, you can take a team of six and four to count in the scoring team.

"I just think it's to encourage more of the top runners to run the championships rather than skip it and maybe look for a pay day in one of the city marathons in the autumn.

"Hopefully it'll mean that the depth of the field will be good, I think there'll be a lot of guys who potentially think they can be medallists."

“The course in Barcelona is fast and flat, it's a different course to the 1992 olympic course which finished at the top of Montjuic.

“We run entirely on the city streets and don't finish in the stadium. Hopefully the British guys can all help each other to good performances.

Robinson would love to finish in the top 12 on the fast and flat course.

“My time of 2.12 is ranked about 14th quickest in terms of European times last year, on a championship day it'd be nice to be a few places higher and break into the top 12."

The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist will implement his usual race tactics.

He added: “Running my own race will be vital, not getting caught up in the early pace changes and surges and saving something for the last 10k should mean I'll produce a good performance.

“I'll have a decent break after barcelona before starting preparation for a spring marathon and getting the qualifying time for the Olympics in 2012."