Tulu battles chest infection

Derartu Tulu thinks Paula Radcliffe will be the race winner

The Ethiopian distance runner Derartu Tulu says her preparations for the Bupa Great North Run on Sunday have been hampered by a chest infection.

She expects to finish the race, but believes Paula Radcliffe will be too strong for her over the 13 miles from Newcastle to South Shields.

Tulu is one of the biggest stars in her home country. Her fame and wealth have given her opportunities others can only dream of.

She now owns one of the biggest farms in Ethiopia, which her family runs while she is away from them and her five-year-old daughter.

Many in athletics consider the diminutive runner to be one of the greatest women's distance athletes of all time.

The 31-year-old boasts two Olympic gold medals at 10,000 metres and two world championship titles.

She has also won three world cross country championships as well as the London and Tokyo Marathons.

But a simple cold could be her undoing this weekend.

She said: "I cannot go to a shop and take something that other people could take. I have had to use a syrup but I still have the cough.

'Do my best'

"I want to put in a good performance on Sunday and will finish the race, but I am not sure if I will be able to win it. I think Paula Radcliffe will push hard from the start.

"It will be a fast race. I want to challenge her but I don't expect to win because of the cough. I will do my best though."

Tulu finished second behind her friend Radcliffe in a 5km race in Hyde Park last weekend and says her rival is in fine form at the moment.

"I don't understand why she didn't run in Paris at the World Championships," she said.

"But I think this race on Sunday will be like the half marathon world championships anyway because there are so many famous people involved."

The current Great North Run champion is Soni O'Sullivan. She clocked a time of 67 minutes and 19 seconds last year, while Tulu finished out of the medals in 69 minutes and 56 seconds.