Exhausted Partridge suffers in the heat of marathon

The 30-year-old – running only her second marathon in 16 months – battled the searing Spanish sun to come home 16th on the streets of Barcelona in a time of 2:39:07hours.

Partridge was the second Brit on the six-strong team home behind Michelle Ross-Cope – who finished 14th – and less than eight minutes away from Lithuanian winner Zivile Balciunaite.

And despite admitting to struggling in the Catalan capital Partridge – who ran her first marathon back in 2004 – insisted she was proud of her effort.

"There was no way anyone in the field was going to go out and feel great so I think the heat training we did before coming to Barcelona really paid off," said Partridge.

"The really bad bits were the bits out in the sun – the last little bit before the finish line is really exposed so I could feel myself wilting on that bit of the lap every time.

"I didn't really have any expectations of myself before the race – I didn't know how I would cope in these conditions and I'd never raced this course before.

"But after experiencing everything I think getting in the top 20 is pretty good. It was never going to be a fast race – I didn't think that would be the case for anybody."

With the European Championships also incorporating the European Marathon Cup – Partridge's 16th-place finish contributed greatly to the British women scooping team bronze.

However having been ahead of teammate Ross-Cope on the last lap – Partridge admitted there was a slight sense of ruing what might have been after finishing behind her.

"I lost it a bit in the last lap and maybe I could have been stronger in the end and held off Michelle," said Partridge. "But she came by quite confidently and I didn't have much of an answer.

"But it was just about getting through it and just assessing the situation each time. I am pleased overall and I think I have got to be to be honest."

Meanwhile, in the men's marathon, fellow Leeds runner Dave Webb struggled with illness but battled his way through the field to finish a creditable 16th in 2:23.04hours.

The 28-year-old is more at home over 10,000m but decided to jump to the marathon in order to travel to the Catalan capital for the European Championships.

"I struggled during the last 10km – I had quite a bad stomach from quite early on and I just couldn't stomach any liquid and ran out of gas," said Webb, who was the second Brit across the finish line after Lee Merrien.