ANNSERT Whyte was beaming from ear to ear after his second-place finish in the men’s 400m hurdles final at the JAAA/Supreme Ventures National Senior Trials at the National Stadium on Friday night.

He set yet another personal best in the event, running 49.30 seconds and was at a loss to recall how many times he has lowered his personal best since taking up the event this year.

“I am not even sure, but every time I run, I run faster,” he told the Jamaica Observer after finishing behind three-time champion Leford Green (49.20 seconds — a season’s best) and ahead of Isa Phillips’ 49.59 seconds.

After failing to lower his personal best 46.19 seconds in the 400m that was set four years ago in 2009, the 26-year-old Whyte was encouraged to try the obstacle race by his coaches at Racers Track Club, and while admitting he did not immediately welcome the move, was willing to give it a try.

Whyte has followed in the path set by the now-retired Danny McFarlane, who switched from the flat 400m to the hurdles and coached himself to a silver medal in the Olympic Games in 2004, in Athens.

He was a regular at the series of JAAA development meets where he would gradually lower his times while honing his technique over what is said to be one of the toughest events on the track.

Whyte said while the training for the 400m hurdles was hard, it was not as difficult for him, and on Friday he said while he was happy with the new personal best, he struggled late in the race. “I was getting tired and had some issues on the last hurdles. I am still learning the event and technique not so clean.”

He was, however, happy to have made his first senior team to a global event. “It’s a great feeling, first time ever making a World Championships team,” he said, while thanking his coaches at Racers.

The key to his success, he also said, was “hard training and dedication; I did not like it at first, but had to give it a try and look how far I have got.”

There were no regrets that he did not switch earlier. “Nothing happens before its time, so have to give God thanks,” he told reporters.