It demonstration that the 35-year-old Bedford runner is in shape to run in the marathon at the World Championships in Berlin on Saturday.

 

Radcliffe had surgery on March 17 to remove bunions and repair fractures in her foot.

 

She had not raced since winning the New York City Marathon last November.

 

She  took the lead midway through today’s race and steadily pulled away.

 

But Radcliffe is still refusing to say whether she will run in Berlin, although she will travel to the German capital tonight.

 

She said: "I don't know [whether to run at the World Championships].

"I guess I see how I recover over the next few days.
 

"It's a bit tough, but I would say it was more likely than it was last week."
 

Radcliffe, whose career has been beset by injuries and marked by two ineffectual displays in successive Olympics, said that she would come to Berlin in any case.
 

She said: "I am going to get on the plane this evening [Sunday] and arrive in Berlin on Monday morning."

 

Mamitu Daska of Ethiopia was second, 79 seconds behind.

 

Radcliffe, a three-time world half-marathon champion, is the world record holder for the distance, having run 65:40 six years ago.

 

She said: "The race in its own right has done me good to go out and run competitively.

 

"But I have to decide if I have the required strength to go out in Berlin and compete against a high quality bunch of rivals."
 

Radcliffe, though, professed herself to be happy with at least winning the race, if not with the time, though, she had been racing into a headwind towards the end.
 

She said: "It was a little bit strange [to be competing again], but today was more about blowing away the cobwebs.

"It's not the fastest time I have ever run, but once I took the lead I kept cruising on.

 

"I am not jumping up and down about the time but I was feeling controlled towards the end."