Launceston 10 winner James Hansen heads to Europe following win

Becoming the first Tasmanian to win the event in its 15^th edition, the 28-year-old began his trip to Europe the following day.

He's racing a 1500m in Finland on Saturday before a 5km on June 30, with a couple more races in the works afterward.

"I'm just going to try and run some fast times overseas," he said post-race on Sunday.

"I'm obviously feeling in good shape and like with what happened last year, you don't know when you're going to get a chance to do this type of thing.

"So I'm putting it all on the line, leaving my job for a bit, it's all self-funded. It's hard to do that by yourself, but I'm just trying to make it work the best I can."

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Hansen's breakthrough victory comes after a remarkable recovery from several health issues in the past year.

A blood clot on his brain and a stroke put him out of action as he doubted his future in the sport, which had seen him run in big races throughout Australia and globally in Belgium, Norway and South Korea.

On the bigger stages, the former Riverside High School student has been a 1500m runner, which might be changing in the future.

"I think I'm potentially moving more towards 5km but I'll still target the 1500," he said.

"I'd love to try and run a worlds qualifier in the 5km, that would be a big goal."

Sunday's Launceston 10 was the first time Hansen had competed in the race since 2013, when he finished 15^th with followed his 21^st and 26^th placings the years before.

"I don't remember watching it as a kid but I remember racing in it and I just remember seeing the front guys," he said.

"You just see them 100s and 100s of metres ahead and you go 'how the heck do they do that?' and to actually be there now and it feels comfortable, it's amazing."

His winning time of 28:49 would have seen him win nine of the previous Launceston 10s, beating times posted by the likes of Martin Dent, Ben St Lawrence and Liam Adams, who came second in the half-marathon event on Sunday before pacing both the men and the women throughout the 10km race.

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