IT’S fair to say the chances are slim of Steve Jones matching his efforts of 25 years ago when he dons his trainers for Sunday’s New York Marathon.

When the former Newport Harrier crossed the line after running 26.2 miles in Chicago on October 21, 1984 he shattered the world record.

His time of 2hr 08min 05sec stood as the best for six months and he has been the British record holder ever since, improving his time 2:07:13 in the Windy City a year later.

The days of setting the pace have long gone for the 54-year-old former aircraft technician from Ebbw Vale who now lives in Boulder, Colorado.

While Paula Radcliffe goes for glory in the Big Apple, he will be running with Rick McTaggart, an old pal from RAF St Athan who is now a Cardiff solicitor, and getting to the line will do for the patched-up pair.

“He’s got shin splints and I have got a bad back and dodgy hamstrings so I don’t think we will be setting our sights too high,” said Jones, the winner in New York in 1988.

“I try to do one marathon a year, usually the Catalina Marathon in March, but my competitive days are long gone.

“Now it’s all about meeting up with friends and there isn’t the motivation to run that I once had. I was on a bit of a streak recently of running four days in a row!

“I went through a period where I went totally away from the sport but I have so many ties to people in running that it is fantastic to meet up with them again while running.

“Of course I won here and they are happy to have me back, so it’s a great opportunity to hang out in New York for a few days.”

Jones, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist who was inducted into the Welsh Athletics hall of fame in 2007, now coaches professional athletes.

The group includes Jorge Torres, who ran for the USA in the 10,000m in the Beijing Olympics and will make his marathon debut in New York, and his protegees are driven by his forthright approach. “He won’t blow any smoke up your butt,” as Torres put it in a recent interview.

The Jones-McTaggart combination will be aiming for around the 4hr 30 mins mark and if that is achieved then it will be down to hard graft on the treadmill courtesy of conditions that are enough to keep even the most gutsy of runners indoors.

“It was raining when I arrived in New York and it was snowing when I left Colorado,” he said.

Enough to make Ebbw Vale seem like the Caribbean.