A TOP five finish was recorded by Mark Lewarne at the Budapest Triathlon on Friday as his world championship preparations continue.

The Penryn College teacher, who lives in Redruth, was part of a strong field of 60 athletes in the Hungarian capital as the race took them around the beautiful city.

His time off 2:15 over the Olympic distance course saw him finish fifth overall.

Next month Lewarne heads out to Chicago as part of the British team participating in the World Championships and he admitted there are still things he needs to improve before then.

Lewarne said: "I'm pleased with result, admitting there is still a lot of hard work to be done in the next three weeks to prepare for the world championships.

"I'm still not there yet with my run and I will be using the next few weeks as a solid block of run training to have a live chance of going into the world championships as a medal contender."

It also proved to be an excellent weekend for Truro's David Bartlett as he came second in the Half Ironman Triathlon held alongside Lewarne's race.

This result helped Bartlett nail down qualification to the Half Ironman World Championships in Australia next year.