Southampton Running Club's Rod Finch ran his second fastest 10K ever to help Great Britain to tenth place in the Chiba Ekiden Relay in Japan.

Despite a lack of sleep adapting to the change of time zone, the Army man completed the opening leg in a wide-awake 29 minutes and 25 seconds to bring the British home in tenth place.

Morpeth's Ian Hudspith ran the other 10K leg in 29.52 and the 5K sections were tackled by Cannock's John Mayock (14.00), who took the team briefly into ninth place, and Swansea's Mark Morgan (14.35).

Because of the late withdrawal of Westbury's Andy Palmer, Paul Evans of Belgrave ran the 12.5k leg, returning a fine time of 38.06 .

Surprise winners of the team race were South Africa with hosts Japan second and Australia third.

"One of the nice things about these trips is what you can learn from your fellow internationals," said Finch's coach Toy Fern.

"Rod has always suffered from blistered feet and Paul Evans, our best marathon runner over the last decade, said to put a little surgical spirit on the soles of his feet at regular intervals to slowly harden them. It's a useful tip for runners of all abilities."