Official ambassador role
30 July 2015
Distance running legend Paula Radcliffe is an official ambassador for next year’s IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships
Paula Radcliffe has been named an official ambassador for the IAAF/Cardiff University World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff next year.
Distance running legend Radcliffe, a three-time winner of the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, becomes the first-appointed ambassador of the event taking place on Easter Saturday 26 March 2016.
It is set to be the biggest half marathon ever to be held in Wales and the most significant athletics event hosted in the country since the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games.
Radcliffe remains one of the world’s most recognisable athletes having retired from competitive running at this year’s London Marathon and still holds the women’s marathon world record time of 2:15:25, which she set at the London Marathon in 2003.
She won the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships three times in four years between 2000 and 2003, including the second time it was held in the UK in Bristol in 2001.
Speaking at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games at London’s Olympic Stadium, Paula said: “It is a race that is very close to my heart and I am sure Wales and Cardiff are going to do a great job of hosting it.
“Hopefully we will get a great turnout of spectators because a brilliant atmosphere will make such a big difference, especially to the athletes representing Great Britain.
“It is also a rare chance for people to run alongside 25,000 other runners and go through the same experience and all the emotions of elite athletes.
“The IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was my first major title and was a huge pick-me-up after the disappointment of not winning a medal at the Sydney Olympics. It could be a real springboard for our athletes ahead of the Rio Olympics and we have seen what excellent shape Mo Farah has been in this summer after doing a half marathon in the spring.
“Wining on home soil will give extra motivation to our athletes and it would be great to see a strong turnout for the British team.
“I’m really looking forward to it and can’t wait to be a part of such an important event.”
The prestigious IAAF World Athletics Series event will bring more than 300 of the world’s best athletes to Cardiff’s flat, fast and iconic course, as well as hosting a mass participation race for up to 25,000 amateur runners from around the world.
Entries for the mass participation race are selling well and are expected to sell out before registration closes at the start of 2016. Runners can sign up via www.cardiff2016.co.uk.