ADAM Hickey skippered Great Britain to European Cross Country Championships glory - despite suffering an asthma attack mid-race.

Hickey struggled with his breathing at the start of the third lap in Lisbon.

But the Southend based 31-year-old was determined to make sure he finished.

“There was no way I was going to drop out and the only way I was going to stop was if I passed out,” said Hickey.

“It was frustrating for me because I made sure I started off at a conservative pace with the aim of moving through the field during the second half of the race and that was starting to happen.

“But then I started to suffer with my asthma and it was frustrating others were able to come past me.These things can happen while racing though and I was able to run through it.”

Hickey did well to finish in 36th place but he will now be looking to ensure he does not suffer any more health setbacks.

“I need to see the specialists now and get my medication checked because this also happened at the Highgate 10k in the summer,” said Hickey.

“I want to try and get to the bottom of it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

However, Hickey’s mood was lifted by those around him as Britain bagged team gold after a number of fine performances.

“Everyone did really well and to get team gold was fantastic,” said Hickey.

“It was a tough course but Great Britain did well in all of the age-groups and races which was great to see.”

But Hickey - a former Southend High School pupil - was particularly pleased to have skippered the men’s side.

“It was an incredible honour,” said Hickey.

“I had to do a speech though and I think I was more nervous about that than the race!”