But I'm a little bit disappointed I didn't get under 30 minutes. Running a lot of the race in lane two because I was always overtaking people, plus the particularly heavy rain in the first half of the race probably accounts for that."I was really tired in the last 3,000m but I said to myself: 'You've only got 12 or so minutes to go' and that eased the pain. I probably went off a little bit too fast at the begining because of the targets I had set myself. I wasn't concentrating on overtaking people but it helped that there was always a next target in front of me."She dodged answering the question of whether she would contest the 5,000m later in the week "I'm tired," she said "All I want is a warm down and a hot bath. I have to remember that I am going to the Chicago marathon and I don't want to take too much out of myself.

I've got some thinking to do."She added that the world championship 10,000m next summer would be another big target, but hinted that her goal at the 2004 Athens Olympics might be victory over the marathon course rather than on the track.O'Sullivan was gracious but faintly bemused in defeat. "I couldn't understand why I was running so fast and there was still someone running 300m in front of me," she said. "I've set a national record, I've got a much valued silver medal, and yet at the same time I feel a little bit crushed."RADCLIFFE'S AMAZING SIX MONTHS March: Wins the world cross-country title in Dublin. The first woman to defend the title in 10 years.April: Wins the London Marathon at the first attempt in 2hr 18min 56sec, missing the world record by just nine seconds.June: Awarded the MBE.July: Wins Commonwealth Games 5,000m in a Games record time of 14min 31.32sec.August: Wins European Championships 10,000m in 30:01.09, shaving 12 seconds off the old European record set in 1986..

It must be something to do with the football World Cup. In 1990, 1994, 1998 and now 2002, England's cricketers have had a sufficiently successful home season to dare to be optimistic about the following winter – when they climb the game's north face, playing Australia on their own turf In 1990, 1994 and 1998 the hopes soon turned to dust. Here are six reasons why England could finally win the Ashes this time – and six reasons why they won't It must be something to do with the football World Cup. England have just won three successive Tests, something they haven't done in a home summer since mythological times (1981).