Limping to victory | Canterbury Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Canterbury

Runner Phil Costley has proved virtually unbeatable in the last year or two.

Now he's even winning on crutches.

Injured in Saturday's Coast to Coast, Costley hobbled around Hagley Park on crutches in the last race of the Shoe Clinic 5km series on Tuesday night.

And won.

Or more precisely, won the series. He was last in the race, wobbling to the finish in 1hr 5min.

"I just had to finish to win the series," said Costley, who had two wins and two second placings from the previous rounds. "But it was a bit of a struggle."

Costley, competing in the Longest Day for the first time, was leading the Coast to Coast by a couple of minutes on the mountain run when he tripped on a rock and twisted his ankle.

"I'd done the hard stuff and we were on the flat," he said.

He lost about 40min being strapped up, but kept going.

"It kinda hurt, but I knew the rest was not things I'd have to put a lot of weight on ? the kayak and cycle."

He finished 13th.

Costley, who has now set his sights on qualifying for the Commonwealth Games marathon next year, is waiting for the swelling to go down to find out how bad the injury is.

Last year the St Andrew's College master won all nine Canterbury athletic titles from 1500m to the marathon.