James medals in a scrappy, sluggish, 1500m at Fortaleza in the first of two races in Brazil this week. Just three days after his 8k road win in Seattle and a day after a grueling 22hr flight to Fortaleza. Despite the photo finish which placed him in 3^rd, James was relatively pleased:

"I was fairly happy with the result. To feel so good in a 1500m after my 8k race in Seattle shows that my strength and recovery is there. this is a good step in the right direction. The winner was last year’s Silver medalist from the World Juniors, Kenya’s Benson Marrianyi Esho. He’s on top form and ran 3:35.80 in Grosseto. It was a real battle between me and Hundson Des Souza for second place. You know, I really felt that I could have won this race if I was more attentive".

Next up was another 8hr flight to Belem, Brazil to compete in the IAAF Grand Prix meeting on Sunday 22 May. Although this flight was different as James sat next to 800m champion Joaquim Cruz (Brazil), who had an 800m best of 1:41.

“Wow… He gave me some advice and we had a chat. That was very cool!
I’m going to be really ready for Sunday. I have a few days to chill out until Sunday. After my intense traveling, training and racing schedules just before the Penn Releys, Jamaica and Fortaleza, the Grand Prix will be my first race this season that I will hit comparatively fresh".

James is renowned for his traveling schedule that sees him race all over the world.

"I feel like I wake up in a new city or country every other day".

This is not far from the truth. In the past 3 weeks James has woken up in Albuquerque NM - Philadelphia Pennsylvania - Flagstaff AZ - Las Vegas NV - Kingston, Jamaica - Phoenix AZ - Seattle WA - Fortaleza, Brazil - Belem, Brazil. This is to name but a few - and remember this is just in the past 3 weeks.

"I know that I travel a lot, but the experiences that I have will stay with me forever. I love racing and it allows me to see and experience so much. I would not trade in what I do for anything else".

Fortaleza 1500 m Men
1 - Benson Marrianyi Esho (QUE) - 3min42s66
2 - Hudson Santos de Souza (BRA) - 3min42s83
3 - James Thie (GBR) - 3min42s90
4 - Byron Piedra (EQU) - 3min43s87
5 - João Paulo Rodrigues Fernandes (BRA) - 3min44s18
6 - Joao Augusto Stinghelin (BRA) - 3min46s66
7 - José Manuel Gonzalez (VEN) - 3min51s27
8 - Cícero Aparecido P. Dos Santos (BRA) - 3min51s48
9 - Ricardo dos Santos Pessoa (BRA) - 3min57s82