Pregnant Radcliffe to compete in fund-raising 10K run

WORLD record holder Paula Radcliffe described yesterday how she is honoured to be taking part in a charity race next month – despite the fact she will be seven months pregnant.

Radcliffe has agreed to take part in the Leeds 10km race on 4 July, and to be patron of the Jane Tomlinson Appeal, set up to continue the fund-raising work of the late Jane Tomlinson.

The event was run for the first time in June 2007, three months before Mrs Tomlinson died after a long battle against cancer.

The race has become an annual fixture in the athletics calendar, raising thousands of pounds for the appeal.

Radcliffe, 36, whose second child is due in September, said she is looking forward to run the race for the first time. She warned that she will only be jogging because of her advanced pregnancy, but said she was overjoyed to be asked to take part by Mrs Tomlinson's widower, Mike.

She said: "Jane was such an inspiration to me. She was a really good friend and a really great person. I really wanted to be able to take part, and this year I can.

"The money Jane raised in her life and the money Mike and his team have raised since is remarkable."

Speaking from Monaco, Radcliffe said she was "in awe" of what Mrs Tomlinson achieved in the physical challenges she embarked on as she battled her illness.

Mrs Tomlinson raised 1.85 million through a series of challenges as she fought her illness.

She met Radcliffe first in 2002 when she was honoured with the Helen Rollason Award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards.