Paula Radcliffe claims she feels more excited than pressurised about defending the New York Marathon title next weekend after recording a British-best 10-mile performance in the recent Bupa Great South Run.

Paula Radcliffe claims she feels more excited than pressurised about defending the New York Marathon title next weekend after recording a British-best 10-mile performance in the recent Bupa Great South Run.

She struck half-a-minute from Jill Boltz's 17-year-mark with a time of 51 minutes 11 seconds. The victory, her first appearance after the disappointment of being 23rd in the Olympic marathon 10 weeks ago, showed Radcliffe is fully-fit and again in good condition.

She is now keen to record a third win in the Big Apple, where she faces a top-class field which includes Olympic silver medallist Catherine Ndereba. However, Radcliffe feels no pressure about another head-to-head with the Kenyan and other top stars, notably Gete Wami, the world marathon majors champion.

"There is pressure, just a little bit from myself having put in the hard work and training, but more of excitement," said Radcliffe.

"However, I think the pressure is worse when you know you haven't done the preparation, which was the case in Beijing. Ever since I've had Isla her daughter, who was born in January, 2007, it's been stop, start, stop start, and I haven't raced as much as I wanted to do." Her latest success proved she is back at her best and hungry to get her career back to winning ways.

"I never have had a problem just coming out and racing because racing is what I enjoy," Radcliffe added. "I never find it hard to get psyched up for a race. Some people need a couple of races to get into it. I've never done that."

She added: "It's nice to come out and blow away the cobwebs and now I will ease down for the race and hope my legs will be even fresher. I was kind of pleased to run a PB and a decent time and come away feeling there is something left in the tank."