Radcliffe targets Berlin marathon

Marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe will run her first marathon since giving birth to a son last year in Berlin on September 25, she announced yesterday.

The 37-year-old, who will, fitness-permitting, bid to make it third time lucky in the Olympic marathon in London next year after two disastrous attempts in 2004 and 2008, has not run a marathon since New York in 2009.

However, Radcliffe, world champion in the event in 2005, said that Berlin had been on her target list for a long time. “Berlin has been on my wish list a long time,” she said.

“I was thinking of running it since I was pregnant as I didn’t want to wait too long before my marathon return.”

Radcliffe, who has accrued a long list of prestigious marathon wins including the London version three times where she set the world record in 2003, said the course would suit her.

“I am aware Berlin is fast and a lovely course and this was a factor,” she said. Radcliffe’s career has been beset by injuries and she admitted that she had not been fully fit when she returned to competition in a 10km road race in London in May, racing despite a tear in a disc in her back.

Aside from Radcliffe the other main attraction in Berlin will be men’s world record holder and Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie.