Mara Yamauchi has insisted a knee problem she picked up during a training run and which will keep her out of this weekend's Bupa Great Birmingham Run is not serious.

Yamauchi, who was planning to chase the Olympic Games qualifying standard in next month's Yokohoma Marathon, has withdrawn from the half marathon race on Sunday purely as a precautionary measure.

 

"Mara felt a problem during a training session on Sunday but felt she would still be able to run in Birmingham," said Peter Riley, elite athletes manager of the Bupa Great Birmingham Run.

 

"However after doing some cross training it has become a little painful in the last couple of days and she feels it will take a few more before she is ready to race."

 

The 2008 Olympic Marathon sixth-place finisher was scheduled to face Louise Damen, who will be one of her main rivals for a place in next year's British team for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Gemma Steel who is establishing herself as one of the country's most consistent distant running performers.

 

Yamauchi, after a 10 month lay off with a troublesome hamstring injury, made an inconspicious return to action when dropping out of last month's Bupa Great North feeling unwell eight miles into the race.

 

However the 38-year-old quickly bounced back when, three weeks later, she was a runaway winner of the ASICS Grand 10k road race in Berlin in a time just two seconds shy of her lifetime best.

 

Riley, fully understanding her decision, said there is every likelihood that Yamauchi, who needs a race before Yokohoma, may now compete in the Bupa Great South Run over 10 miles next weekend.

 

The Bupa Great Birmingham Run will feature the presence of Haile Gebrselassie in the men's race, who will be making his first appearance since dropping out of the BMW Berlin Marathon a month ago with breathing problems, the venue where he also lost his world record to Kenya's Patrick Makau.

 

Ends

 

Further information:

David Hart, Communications Director - 07771 983688

 

Editors Notes

Nova International

The Bupa Great Birmingham Run is brought to you by a partnership arrangement between Birmingham City Council and event organisers Nova International and is sponsored by Bupa.

 

Nova International, headed by Olympic medalist, Brendan Foster, is one of the UK's leading event management and sports marketing agencies. The company's unique current brand portfolio also includes some of the biggest running events in the world all based on the Bupa Great North Run, the world's biggest half marathon with over 54,000 entries.

 

Nova International was established in 1988 and has a strong sporting pedigree. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Nova has established itself as a market leader in the world of sports marketing and event management. For more information please visit www.greatrun.org.

 

Bupa

Bupa's purpose is to help people lead longer, healthier, happier lives.

 

A leading international healthcare group, we offer personal and company health insurance, run care homes for older people and hospitals, and provide workplace health services, health assessments and chronic disease management services, including health coaching, and home healthcare.

 

With no shareholders, we invest our profits to provide more and better healthcare. We are committed to making quality, patient-centred, affordable healthcare more accessible in the areas of wellness, chronic disease management and ageing.

 

Employing nearly 52,000 people, Bupa has operations around the world, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, New Zealand and the USA, as well as Hong Kong, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, China and across Latin America.

 

For more information, visit www.bupa.com