Radcliffe has won all six times she has competed in New York
Paula Radcliffe returned to action with victory in the New York City Half-Marathon but will wait before committing to the World Championships. The Briton, 35, was competing for the first time in 10 months following bunion surgery and a broken toe. She won in an impressive time of one hour nine minutes 45 seconds, but said afterwards she was unsure if she would run in next week's marathon in Berlin. "I don't know," said Radcliffe, who will fly to Germany on Sunday night. "I came through the race and that was the main objective and everything felt good. We will see how I recover over the next few days.
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I am not jumping up and down about the time but I was feeling controlled towards the end
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"It is definitely more likely than it was this time last week. It's good to get out and race and feel good in the race. It's definitely done me good, now I just have to decide if I have the strength and training background behind me to race with the people in the race next week. "I will get on the plane tonight and land about 10am in Berlin tomorrow morning. If I don't feel 100%, I don't want to put myself on the line." Radcliffe had admitted beforehand that choosing to run in New York was "unorthodox" preparation for next Sunday's World Championships marathon. The marathon world-record holder last raced at the New York Marathon in November and under went surgery in March, only resuming her full training schedule in June. But in hot conditions she completed the New York City Half-Marathon course, which runs from Central Park through Times Square to Battery Park at the southern end of Manhattan, apparently without any problems.
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606: DEBATE
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Radcliffe and Ethiopia's Mimitu Daska quickly separated themselves from the pack and ran together until the Briton put in a kick coming out of Central Park after 39 minutes. Daska could not respond and Radcliffe left her trailing as she stretched her lead all the way to the finish line, coming home just two seconds outside the course record. "The foot is fine. It was a little bit strange (to be competing again), but today was more about blowing away the cobwebs," admitted the three-time world half-marathon champion. "It's not the fastest time I have ever run, but once I took the lead I kept cruising on. I am not jumping up and down about the time but I was feeling controlled towards the end." It was Radcliffe's first half-marathon on North American soil and her first since her second-placed finish behind American Kara Goucher at the Great North Run in 2007.
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