- Radcliffe broke women’s record in 2003 before it was surpassed 16 years later
- The 51-year-old ran competitively for the first time since 2014 London Marathon
Team GB legend Paul Radcliffe marked her return as she ran the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday.
The 51-year-old ran in a time of in a time of two hours, 57 minutes and 26 seconds, 10 years after ending her career at the 2015 London Marathon.
The Brit’s broke the women’s record in 2003 with a time of 2:15:25 before it was overtaken by Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei 16 years later in 2019.
Ethiopia’s Sutume Asefa Kebede was the winner in Sunday’s race as she defended her Tokyo title in 2:16:31.
Winfridah Moraa Moseti of Kenya finished second in 2:16:56, while Ethiopia’s Hawi Feysa came third in 2:17:00.
The men’s race was won by Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele, who claimed his first major marathon title in 2:03:23.
Team GB legend Paul Radcliffe marked her return as she ran the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday
The 51-year-old ran in a time of in a time of two hours, 57 minutes and 26 seconds
Deresa Geleta of Ethiopia finished second in 2:03:51, with Kenya’s Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich third in 2:04:00.
Radcliffe will make her return next month in the Boston Marathon as she has set sights on all six major marathons.
Speaking to the Athletics Weekly recently, she said: ‘I turned 50 last year, am now 51, and thinking about the goals I’ve got left one of those was always to tick off the six marathon majors.
‘For most of my career it was five and then Tokyo was added so I never really had the opportunity to race Tokyo. And Boston I never did because it was so close to London.’
Berlin, Chicago and New York are the other major marathons alongside London, Boston and Tokyo.
