At big championships it’s not the fastest person, it’s the person who gets it right on the day.

Actually I don’t choose to expose myself in public. I choose to compete; the other side just comes with the package.

I executed my race plan. It worked really well. I knew that, if I went out hard, then everyone would have to work really hard to stay with that.

Plenty of people who are 38 have run really well in the marathon.

I set myself some specific goals, but the key one is just getting myself into as good a shape as possible for one day this year: the Olympic marathon.

Nothing will make up for what happened last year,

I just want to be in the best shape I can be. Not to stand on that start line and say: ‘Oh my God, I have this injury and that injury.’ I just want to...

It went really well and should give me no more trouble. It just had to be removed as it would never have settled on its own. Now I have just had to tolerate a few...

I am not driven by any bitterness by what happened in Athens. I learnt a lot of lessons from it and probably came through it a stronger person in the end. There have been a...

As an athlete, there are advantages being with a team and getting regular physio.

From next week I can start building things gradually back up to normal.

Every time I go out and race it’s a goal to go out and run faster than I’ve done before.

If you look back at my marathons and ask whether I would swap one of them for my one balls-up, of course I would. But you can’t choose. You have to make the best of...

The idea was just to go out at a pace that was comfortable and decent,

I took a lot of bad things after Athens. I just learnt to deal with it. The problem was beforehand I had this feeling where I was trying to please everybody – I wanted everybody...

I have been getting back into it during the last four weeks or so when I have not been doing huge mileage,

You can wish as hard as you like but all that really matters is the shape you’re in on the day of the race. I’ve always felt these really big races aren’t necessarily won by...

I have always run as hard as I can. You are not going to run any harder with or without men. You are running on your own two feet.

A lot a things went wrong in Athens. I was a lot more confident here.

I would be happy with an Olympic bronze. What I don’t have is an Olympic medal.

An Olympic medal won’t define my whole life, although it might look like it to onlookers. When I look back, I should have been able to get an Olympic medal.

The problem last year was that I knew things were falling apart in the last two weeks before the marathon,

In my Olympic history I don’t think I have achieved my potential as an athlete. That’s what I want when I look back at my career. I want to be able to say I gave...

For a while it felt as though I would never get over it.

If I start planning then that’s dangerous because then I have a target that I’m blinkered towards and I won’t listen to the warning signs quite so much. I’d rather be in shape and then...

I have been doing 120 miles a week, when normally I would do about 140.

I’m just pleased to win the race and win the championship because that’s what I came here for. And it was important to do that, not just for me, but for everyone else that supported...

I’ve been to three Olympics and I don’t feel I’ve ever quite achieved my best at any of them.

I’ve had a lot of success over the years racing in New York, but the main point is that I feel the marathon is a different event, a lot more my event.

I felt totally myself, nothing like the emptiness and horrible feeling I had then [pulling out the Olympics] – no dizziness.

To represent your country at a home Olympics is something special and I’m over the moon to be selected for Team GB. I was pleased to get the qualifying time in Berlin earlier this year...

I am really pleased that the IAAF has decided to recognize performances achieved on the roads as world records,

For an athlete, the biggest pressure comes from within. You know what you want to do and what you’re capable of.

I prefer just a women’s race. It’s a totally different game mentally.

It is a challenge and I do think it fits together well.

In the marathon anything can happen.

It’s totally different from last year because I came in with good shape with no health worries so it was about going out there and running well and enjoying it.

It was good to blow away the cobwebs. It was like a run-out doubling as a training session,

I have always loved running on the roads, ever since I used to take part in relays for my club when I was 12 and 13. I felt really at home on the surface.

I don’t really have an explanation. I’m struggling myself to comprehend what has happened and find a reason for it.

I don’t like going away from my children.

I try not to worry about things that I can’t control.

I’m pleased to have won the race and win the championship, … I knew I was well-prepared for this race.

From my training I can get a good idea of what I’m capable of.

I am really disappointed to have to miss this year’s event.

It was good to blow away the cobwebs,

I can’t imagine living and not running.

It sharpened me up for the marathon, … I got the run out of it that I wanted, and it was better than the run out I had before London earlier this year.

I’ve always been good at putting things behind me – I fall apart, do my crying bit and then put it away and move it.

I’m confident of what I have to achieve in the buildup to London 2012.