Paula Radcliffe To Return To Action In Manchester

Paula Radcliffe will return to action at the Great Manchester Run in May.

Radcliffe has been out of action since giving birth to her second child back in September and will return with a 10k run.

The marathon world record holder has been in action since New York Marathon back in 2009, where she finished fourth, but she has been training at altitude in New Mexico since the beginning of the year.

Speaking to the Press Association she said:  "It will great to get back to racing after such a lengthy period away and I'm excited, particularly as it is finally happening on home soil.

"The Great Manchester Run is a high-profile event on the world road-running circuit and I'm sure it will be a testing comeback for me, having seen the list of high-profile past winners.

"I deliberately returned slowly to training after Raphael was born and everything, apart from being bitten by a dog whilst out training in Monaco at the beginning of the year, has gone pretty well.

"Starting my comeback with a 10km race is ideal as I build up later in the year to achieving the marathon standard, and I'm confident of what I have to achieve in the build-up to London 2012."

London 2012 will be Radcliffe’s fifth consecutive Olympic Games but she is yet to pick up a medal after struggling in the marathon in 2008 in Beijing.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw