Cold weather in New York and the dry air of Arizona made road running harder than expected for Bermuda's Otis Robinson as he competed in a number of overseas competitions over consecutive weekends.

Last Sunday he lined up in the Rock and Roll Half-Marathon in Arizona, and after a fast start in a race that featured, amongst others, America's second fastest marathoner Ryan Hall, he went through the opening mile in around 5.30. Robinson then settled down to run six-minute miles, reaching five miles in around 29 minutes and 10 miles in 61minutes.

The Southampton runner said he was surprised by the number of twists and turns on the course and hills in the final three miles. He said: "I just kept plugging away after seven miles. My miles were getting slower and slower and I was having breathing difficulties in the dry air."

Robinson ended up 102nd overall and ninth in his age division with a time of 1.21.38. The race was won by Canada's Simon Bairu in 1.02.47.

The previous weekend Robinson had competed in New York, running indoors where in the same evening he clocked 5.08 over a mile, 2.19 at 800m and around 11 minutes in a two-mile race. Around 36 hours later he competed in the Fred Lebow Five Miles Race in 20F temperatures in New York's Central Park, coming 25th in a race field of around 3,000. His time was 29.40. The race was won by Chris Ellis-Ferrara in 25.25.