Paula competing in Chiba (Photo: Victor Sailer)
23rd November 2005, Jon Mulkeen for PaulaRadcliffe.com
Paula Radcliffe made her first competitive outing since winning the World Marathon title in Helsinki earlier this year.
Competing in the Chiba Ekiden - a road relay event split between seven runners, making up the full marathon distance - Paula covered the first 10km stage in an encouraging 31:41, coming off the back of a sinus infection.
"I was glad to be part of the team and enjoy the race day and atmosphere," said Paula. "After a rocky previous month I was looking forward to relaxing and enjoying racing. I didn't run a great time but knew going into it my preparation hadn't been good and also with hindsight I needed a few more days to let my system recover from the anti biotics.
"Anyway it helped blow a few cobwebs out and I've been feeling good again this week. Amazing how often you don't realise how much things weren't right until you return to normal and feel ok again!"
The British team – which also included Jo Ankier, Kate Reed, Charlotte Dale, Birhan Dagne and Kate Ramsey – finished 7th overall with a time of 2:22:30.
Related links
• Chiba Ekiden Road Relay
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