RUNNING for himself is not enough motivation, Chris O’Hare revealed after struggling to last place in his 1500m World Championships final on Sunday night.

The Borders man clocked 3:38.28 - faster than his time from the semi-final but only good enough for 15th in the final.

The 26-year-old was in a strong position following the first lap, but struggled with positioning and form as he got boxed in and was unable to burst his way clear in the closing two laps with his opponents running away from him.

Having moved to Boston, USA, to train, O’Hare has become a force in 1500m running, but he was in reflective mood on Sunday night as he contemplated why he runs.

“I wanted a medal for my family, for the fans, for everyone. To change our lives,” he said. “But it wasn’t meant to be today.

“Maybe it’s a lot of pressure to put on myself, I don’t know. I don’t think so. They’re why I run and that’s why I’m here.

“That’s why I do this, if it was just for me I wouldn’t do it.

“It’s not good enough motivation.

“Doing it for them is all I’ve got, I gave it all I had today and it just wasn’t good enough.

“It didn’t matter what place I finished, I just wanted to have a good race, and that’s the hard part to take, it just wasn’t a good race.”

O’Hare ran a personal best of 3:33.61 less than a month ago, but was unable to recapture that form on the biggest stage.

With the European Championships and Commonwealth Games on the horizon next season, O’Hare will have the rare opportunity to pull on a Scottish vest and go on the hunt for a medal - but he knows that this race will take some time to recover from.

“It’s hard to process at the moment, I just wasn’t good enough today,” he added.

“Everyone in the final looks in shape to get a medal. Everybody expects a medal if you’re in the final, everybody wants a medal, and I’m no different.

“I’m not going to try and play down my goals, I just wasn’t on form today.

“First lap I thought this is fine. I know we’re sitting here and they’re just going to hit it at some point, so I was waiting for it, waiting for it, and it went.

“I thought the race was on and the plan was to stay even if they got a gap on me, someone would fill in the gap and then stay I’d confident and go hard with 150m to go, but that third lap was just horrible for me and I was stuck in a horrible cadence, horrible tempo.

“It was just rubbish. It’s really disappointing because I know I’m so much better than last place today.”

You can help the next generation of young British athletes by getting involved in SportsAid Week this September with London 2012 hero Greg Rutherford MBE. Find out more about how you can support the week of fun and fundraising by visiting www.sportsaid.org.uk/sportsaidweek