November 04, 2007	Sunday	Shawwal 22, 1428

NEW YORK, Nov 3: World record holder Paula Radcliffe is running her first marathon in more than two years in Sunday’s New York City race but the 33-year-old Briton has not lowered her expectations.

“I’m here to win,” Radcliffe told reporters on Friday while acknowledging that the women’s field for the run through New York’s five boroughs was of major championship quality.

Radcliffe has known virtually nothing but winning over the marathon distance, triumphing in six of seventh marathons she has entered.

The 2005 world champion, three-times London winner and former Chicago champion failed to finish in the heat and humidity of the 2004 Athens Olympics but bounced back to win New York that year, giving her a special bond with the race.

“I’m really, really pleased to be back here in New York and I’m really pleased to be back racing marathons. It seemed to me New York was a natural place to step back. It was great to step in here and bounce back from the disappointment in Athens.”A maternity break extended because of injury held Radcliffe out of competition longer than she had hoped after the January birth of her first child, Isla. She returned to action on Sept.

30, finishing runner-up in the Great North Run half-marathon in England.

Radcliffe said she was not content to merely post a qualifying time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“The fact that I’m here to put myself on the line means that training’s gone well and I’m ready to get on with it and run my race,” she said.

Not that the Briton believes it will be a simple task to conquer an elite field that includes twice-defending champion Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia, world champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya and twice-Berlin winner Gete Wami of Ethiopia.

Wami is returning 35 days after winning Berlin to battle Prokopcuka for the World Marathon Majors title and its $500,000 prize.

“I think it’s probably stronger than the Athens field,” Radcliffe said.—Reuters