News01 Sep 2014


Pavey to return to Glasgow for Great Scottish Run

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Jo Pavey prevails in Portsmouth

European champion Jo Pavey will return to Glasgow, the scene of her Commonwealth Games 5000m bronze medal last month, on 5 October to race in the Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.

After taking 5000m bronze at the Commonwealth Games, the 40-year-old went on to win the 10,000m at the European Championships in Zurich, becoming the oldest female gold medallist in the 80-year history of the continental competition.

Pavey has now set her sights on making a mark on the roads, and she has made the Great Scottish Run her first target of the autumn season.

“It’s a long time since I’ve had the opportunity to run in a big road race and the Great Scottish Run will be a fantastic half marathon for me to be involved with, especially after the experience I had at the Commonwealth Games,” said Pavey, who turns 41 on 20 September.

“It means a lot to me to be coming back to Glasgow and I think it will be quite emotional, especially as the course goes past many of the venues that were used at the Games.

“I’ll never forget the deafening noise that night I ran at Hampden Park. The crowd were awesome and the atmosphere was absolutely brilliant. It felt like a repeat of the 2012 Olympics and it was so special the way the crowd were so close to the track. It was a special atmosphere and a special race for me.

Pavey – who has a four-year-old son, Jacob, and who gave birth to daughter Emily only in September last year – will be running her first half marathon since the 2012 Great North Run, where she finished fifth in 1:09:20.

Despite her medal-winning success on the track this summer, Pavey is keen to return to road racing. She admits she has unfinished business with the marathon, after clocking 2:28:24 in London in 2011 and 2:28:42 in New York later that year.

“I haven’t entered a marathon at this stage but it’s definitely something in mind,” said Pavey, who has been picked to run the 5000m for Europe at the IAAF Continental Cup in Marrakesh on 13-14 September. “I would love to improve my PB at the marathon but you have to get so many things right on a particular day. For the moment I’m just excited about doing a big half marathon again – and about returning to Glasgow.”

Organisers for the IAAF

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