KELLY HOLMES returns to competition on Sunday aiming to prove she is on course to defend her Commonwealth title in Kuala Lumpur next month.

European Athletics Championships: Distraught British runner misses out on 10,000 metres medal as O'Sullivan takes gold

By Adam Szreter

THE 3,000 OR SO spectators who had witnessed the first public sporting event to be staged within the grounds of Balmoral Castle were making their way home through swirling snow.

BRITISH athletics acquaints itself with a new topography today as leading middle distance runners, including Liz McColgan and Paula Radcliffe, race past features including Creag Na Ghobainn, Creag Nan Gill, Ripe Hill and the Woods of Garmaddie.

PAULA RADCLIFFE smashed Liz McColgan's long-standing British 10,000m record with a time of 30min 48.58sec at the European Challenge athletics meeting at Lisbon yesterday on her track debut over the distance.

A double gold medal triumph has restored the world-class credentials of Ireland's foremost female runner. Mike Rowbottom talked to her

THE Irish runner Sonia O'Sullivan rediscovered her top form yesterday by winning the gold medal at the IAAF World Cross-Country Championship in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Husband and wife the unsung heroes of Radcliffe's run to the top. Simon Turnbull reports

PAULA RADCLIFFE has decided to keep her options open about competing in two events at the World Cross-Country Championships in Morocco later this month.

Many have been called but two too few have chosen to run in today's international cross-country event at Durham. But the fields remain stronger, Mike Rowbottom reports

Simon Turnbull says women's marathon running is entering the McKiernan era

Britain's Paula Radcliffe lost out in a private duel with Gete Wami in Brussels yesterday, and had to be content with second place in the opening round of the International Amateur Athletic Federation World Cross Challenge series.

Jon Brown and Paula Radcliffe may be absent from today's European cross-country championship in Portugal, but the team manager David Clarke hopes their past exploits can inspire his squad to heroics in both the individual and team events.