Radcliffe misses out on victory

The race was Radcliffe's first outing since the World Championships

Paula Radcliffe started her build-up to next year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne with a third-place finish at the Run London Nike 10k in Hyde Park.

Radcliffe clocked a time of 32 minutes 19 seconds in the mixed event, short of her record of 30:21, in a race won by 19-year-old Keith Gerrard.

The Isle of Man athlete won in 31:08 with Adam Hickey in second.

"It was good to blow away the cobwebs. It was like a run-out doubling as a training session," said Radcliffe.

"I was not messing around but I knew I was not on for a world record time."

Sunday's race was her first since she won the marathon at the World Championships in Helsinki nine weeks ago.

The 10k is looking a little bit more likely but it is possible to double up Paula Radcliffe

"I have been getting back into it during the last four weeks or so when I have not been doing huge mileage," said Radcliffe, who has been training at her base in Font Romeu in the French Pyrenees.

"I have been doing 120 miles a week, when normally I would do about 140."

Radcliffe, the defending Commonwealth 5,000m champion, has entered both the 5,000m and the 10,000m in Melbourne.

"The 10k is looking a little bit more likely but it is possible to double up," she said.

She will now race for her club Bedford & County at the National Four-Stage Road Relays in Birmingham next Saturday.