James Baker hopes to erase the nightmare of last year when he bids to complete a hat-trick of triumphs in the Sussex Beacon Half Marathon on Sunday.

A leg injury forced Baker to surrender his title 12 months ago after he bravely attempted to battle through the pain for seven miles.

The memory of that disappointment will drive the 32-year-old on when he lines up with a field of more than 4,000 runners at Madeira Drive on Sunday.

The Chichester Runner will start as one of the favourites to add to the titles he won in convincing fashion in both 2004 and 2007 but history tells him it might not be plain sailing.

Baker said: “I tend to either run really well or have a nightmare at the Sussex Beacon. I’ve won it twice and come second once but there have also been a few lows.

“I shouldn’t have run last year because I had been struggling with injury but I decided to give it a go. It was really painful, though, and I just couldn’t keep going.

“I also had a bad time in 2005 when it was icey cold and I had to stop because I couldn’t breathe. I think I eventually jogged around that year and finished about 200th.

“I’m feeling good this year and am coming back to form after a bad couple of months. I ran in the Hastings Marathon in December with a cold and it has taken me a long time to recover but things are going well now. It would be great to win again and complete a hat-trick and put what happened last year behind me.”

Phoenix’s Dave Carter was the man who took advantage of Baker’s withdrawal last year and could be in contention again but the main challenge is likely to come from outside Sussex.

England international road runner Dave Wardle is the quickest runner in the field with a half marathon best of 65 minutes compared to Baker’s 68min.11sec but the Chichester athlete hopes home advantage will work in his favour.

Baker added: “He is likely to be the favourite but I don’t think he has raced much since November and I know the course pretty well.

“I think I’m in shape to run around 68 minutes depending on the weather and hopefully that will be good enough.”

Naomi Warner will start as favourite to defend her title in the women’s race with Samantha Alvarez likely to be Sussex’s best hope of success.

The race starts at 9.45am at Madeira Drive with the first runners expected to finish just after 10.50am. There are also junior races for eight to 11 and 12 to 16-year-olds at 10.10am.

l Report and pictures in The Argus on Monday plus eight-page results pull-out on Tuesday.