LONDON, Sept 21 Reuters - Briton Paula Radcliffe set aworld best for the half-marathon today when she clockedan unofficial 65 minutes 40 seconds in the Great NorthRun.
The mark was exactly a minute inside Norwegian IngridKristiansen’s 1987 time but Radcliffe said she did notthink it would be ratified because of the sloping coursefrom Newcastle to South Shields.
Radcliffe, 29, who broke her own world best for themarathon in London this year, missed last month’s Parisworld championships because of injury and illness.
It doesn't make up for the world championships butit ends the season on a positive note,'' she said. I wasn’t thinking of the time but I didn’t think Iwas anywhere near the world best. I was just running ashard as I could. It was a great day for it.’’
Radcliffe, who has said she will run the marathon innext year’s Athens Olympics although she has yet to wina global title on the track, confirmed she would takepart in next month’s world half-marathon championshipsin Vilamoura, Portugal.
Ethiopia’s world 10,000 metres champion Berhane Aderefinished second ahead of the 2001 Great North championSusan Chepkemei of Kenya.
The International Association of Athletics Federations(IAAF) will recognise marks set on the road as worldrecords from January 1 next year.
It lists South African Elana Meyer’s 1999 mark of66:44 as the current world best but the authoritativeInternational Track and Field Annual lists bothKristiansen’s and Meyer’s marks.