Paula Radcliffe: I'd be happy with a medal of any colour

Radcliffe admits she is not the Olympics force she was ahead of novelty race with Gebrselassie

Paula Radcliffe and Haile Gebrselassie ahead of their half-marathon race in Vienna tomorrow (EPA)

The demob happiness of Haile Gebrselassie was not the only reminder to Paula Radcliffe yesterday that she has unfinished business to attend to. There was also the presentation of a certificate marking her enlistment in the "Clean Running" campaign started by the organisers of the Vienna City Marathon and the Austrian Sports Ministry.

Radcliffe is in the Austrian capital for a novel "catch me if you can" race with Gebrselassie in the half-marathon that takes place alongside the annual full marathon here tomorrow. The Briton will be given a head start of 7min 52sec and – barring a disastrous flare-up of the bronchitis that has disrupted her training in the past two weeks – should still be ahead of the Ethiopian veteran when she reaches the Riesenrad, the giant ferris wheel on which Orson Welles gave his speech in the film The Third Man about so many years of Swiss civilisation giving the world nothing better than the cuckoo clock.

Having failed to manage a time fast enough to put him into contention for the Ethiopian marathon team at the London Olympics, Gebrselassie seems to be not far from calling time on his career as the greatest male distance runner of all time. "It is time to give the others a chance," he said, when asked if he might chase an Olympic place on the track in the 10,000m.

It was easy for him to say – as it was for him to think of Radcliffe's future and suggest she should become a coach. "She is an inspiration," he said.

The Bedford woman is that, as the long-time holder of the out-of-reach women's marathon world record of 2hr 15 min 25sec. Unlike Gebrselassie, though, her running career remains unfulfilled. Her fellow 38-year-old has two Olympic medals in the bank – both golds. She has none, illness and injury having conspired against her in 2004 and 2008.

"I would be happy with a medal of any colour," Radcliffe said, three months out from what will surely be her final Olympic shot, in the women's marathon at London 2012. "I would be happy with a bronze. Obviously, I'd love a gold but I'm realistic. I know I'm not going into it holding as many cards as I had in the past."

At the World Championships in Edmonton in 2001 Radcliffe was holding a banner proclaiming "EPO Cheats Out". Throughout her international running career the Briton has been a leading campaigner for clean running. She could well have business to settle on that front too.

Asked about her future and the possibility of becoming a coach, Radcliffe replied: "I would like to maybe give something back – whether that's anti-doping, I don't know.

"I feel passionately about the anti-doping thing and I don't have the time right now. It's more support now rather than something I can do proactively. I think there is progress being made but there is a long way to go still.

"The efficiency of the testing, the way blood passports are coming in – all of that is going in the right direction. But it's not where it needs to be and we need to keep pushing forward and make sure that the powers that be don't lose sight of that.

"It's important that athletes can compete on a level playing field and youngsters coming into the sport can know that if they are working hard and training hard, they'll see a true reflection of where they stand and what they can achieve worldwide and not be swayed by people who are cheating."

So might it send out a bad message if, as expected, the British Olympic Association bar on the selection of former doping offenders is ruled invalid by the Court of Arbitration for Sport?

"I think it would," Radcliffe replied. "Having said that, I do think these Olympic Games will be the most stringent there ever has been, with the most in-depth testing.

"I'm really heartened by the fact that they are talking about keeping the samples for the next eight to 10 years until new tests come in so that they'll be able to go back and retest them. But, yes, what would have sent out a stronger sign is for that [BOA by-law] to be upheld and other countries to take that up."

It was suggested that the great irony was that the World Anti-Doping Agency is seen as being soft on drugs. "Yes it is," Radcliffe said. "It's not what we would hope. But at the same time one would hope they are investing more in the testing and in that kind of blood passport monitoring to build up the data.

"But yes, they needed to send a strong signal from both sides because it needs to be a bigger deterrent. Otherwise, the gain is too great for the deterrent if you just sit out two years if you get caught."