News03 Jun 2015


Pavey will return to Glasgow for Great Scottish Run

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British distance runner Jo Pavey (© Getty Images)

European 10,000m champion Jo Pavey will contest her first half marathon in three years when she competes at the Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, on 4 October.

The 41-year-old will be returning to the city in which she took the Commonwealth 5000m bronze medal in front of a home crowd last summer. She will be using the race as a stepping stone towards next year’s Olympic Games in Rio.

“It means a lot to me to be coming back to Glasgow for the Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run,” said Pavey, who finished seventh in both the 5000m and 10,000m at the 2012 Olympics. “I really wanted to run last year but it wasn’t possible because of injury.

“I think it will be quite emotional for me to be back in Glasgow again. I’ll never forget the deafening noise that night I ran at Hampden Park. It felt like a repeat of London 2012. It will be great to come back to run a half marathon through the city.

“I’m getting older and older but I’m still enjoying it and I’ve still got goals I want to achieve,” added Pavey, whose half marathon PB of 1:08:53 was set in 2008. “My main goal, going forward, is to try to qualify for Rio and I’m quite focused on that.

“I’m not complacent about it. There’s so much talent coming through in Britain and, as I say, I’m getting older and older. But I still just want to give that a go – and that’s the main thing on my mind at the moment.

“It’s the same for everybody: you’ve got to be on form when the qualifying window is there. I’m just going to give it my best shot.”

Organisers for the IAAF