ATHLETICS legend Paula Radcliffe says it is great to finally be able to bring her family running event to Worcester after the pandemic originally delayed her plans.

The popular Worcester City Half Marathon, 10K and Young Athletes Run will this year be joined by Paula’s Families on Track which will give family teams the opportunity to run together.

And a special competition has also been launched with one lucky family having the opportunity to join Paula’s team for the event next month.

"I took part in the Worcester Run in 2014 as part of the build up to my last London Marathon," the 47-year-old said.

"I really enjoyed it, my daughter ran in the kids race as well. She loved it and said we had to take Families on Track there.

"We were hoping to bring it to Worcester last year but sadly because of the pandemic we weren't able to do that.

"Getting Worcester City Runs going again is so important for the local community, and for people who travel to it to take part."

Families on Track gives family groups the opportunity to complete a 10K distance in a continuous relay in laps of either 1,000m, 500m or 250m, in a safe setting and format that allows everyone to contribute - no matter what their age or ability.

At the moment, Paula and her children Isla, 14, and Raphael, 10, make up the Radcliffe team, but there is room for two more, with the winning family also positioned in the Family Zone with the former Olympian.

Every family that enters is being automatically entered into the competition that gives the chance of nominating up to two people to join Team Radcliffe for the event on Saturday, September 4.

To enter people just need to say why their family deserves to win and who they would be nominating using the hashtag #familiesontrack on social media.

Looking back at her career Paula told the Worcester News: "One of the highlights was breaking the world record, although the first and last London Marathons were very special too.

"It was great to be able to finish my career, on my terms.

"Throughout the pandemic a lot of people have turned to running, and found it really helped.

"This feels like the last step of recovery out of the pandemic, getting back to these big races going again, and hopefully having some fun too.

"My best advice to parents is to let your kids try as many different sports as possible because what is important is when they find the one that they love, they will feel the passion for it."

All of the weekend’s events are open for entry at worcestercityrun.com. Places on the Worcester City Half Marathon cost £37 for unaffiliated runners (£35 for affiliated) and places on the Worcester City 10K cost £28 for unaffiliated runners (£26 for affiliated).

Places on the Young Athletes Run (one mile for under 11s and 3K for under 16s) cost £8.

The cost for entering Paula’s Families on Track is £40 per team.