European Athletics (EAA) – News – Clitheroe set for half marathon debut ahead of making a complete move to the roads

Great Britain’s Helen Clitheroe, the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships 3000m gold medallist, will make her debut over the half marathon distance in the Bupa Great North Run on 18 September.

Clitheroe will turn her attention to the roads after competing over 5000m on the track at the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, which start on 27 August.

One of her main opponents in the race, which goes from Newcastle to South Shields in the north east of England, will be Portugal’s 2010 SPAR European Cross Country Championships gold medallist Jessica Augusto.

Augusto won on the course in 2009. “She's an athlete who I really look up to because she's very good at a variety of track events and it’s great to see a European athlete as strong as she is. She's run her first marathon and is a role model in terms of how she's stepped from the track onto the roads and improved. She's the kind of girl you can look up to,” commented Clitheroe.

“I haven't done a half marathon and honestly have not considered what time I think I can do. I'm not going to set myself any real targets and I've just got to start and see how it feels,” added Clitheroe modestly.

“It will be a big test and I'm quite excited about the race. But I'm not going to put pressure on myself and I think it will be a good experience for the future."

“After 2012 (the Olympic Games in London), I will probably set my sights on road running. I mean it can be my future and everything I do at the moment, I just seem to continually surprise myself.

“So there's no reason, if my body will let me carry on for a few more years, why I will not be running more on the roads than in the past."

Clitheroe, now 37, recently returned from a spell of altitude training in Font Romeu where she met up with her compatriot Paula Radcliffe, the world marathon record holder, and hasn't ruled out eventually moving up to the classic event over 26.2 miles / 42km.

“I've not asked her about marathon running but she's pretty open about giving advice. When we're together we tend to chat more about life rather than athletics. It's nice to be friends with her.

“I'm not going to say: 'No'. I can see it happening although I would never have believed I'd say that because I'd never ran further than 10k. It's a natural progression and worth a try and definitely even worth doing a serious one.”

Clitheroe believes that altitude training has played a significant part in her late-career improvement. “It's something I've done for years but this is the first time I've been there back to back. I haven't had the opportunity to do that before but this year I've been there in January, April and then just had another two weeks now. It's a shame I couldn't do it when I was younger."

Great Britain’s Mo Farah, the 2010 European Athletics Championships 5000m and 10000m gold medalist has also confirmed that he will compete in the events being staged in the area during that weekend.

However, Farah will not commit until after the forthcoming World Championships to whether he will run over two miles in the Bupa Great North CityGames, a street athletics match between Great Britain and the United States on 17 September, or in the Bupa Great North Run the following day.

If Farah decides to compete in the longer event it would also offer him the chance to not only become the first British men’s winner since Steve Kenyon in 1985 but also the opportunity to improve on his own British record of 60:23, which he achieved at the New York Half Marathon in March this year.

European Athletics (EAA) – News