MARA Yamauchi is hoping to strike a blow for British running’s older generation when she competes in the Bupa Great North Run tomorrow.

Oxford-born Yamauchi turned 37 last month, but the British number two has produced the best form of her life in the last two years.

In 2008, she equalled the best performance by a British woman when she finished sixth in the Olympic marathon in Beijing and, last year, she finished second in the London Marathon, breaking her personal record in the process.

Marathon running is different to many athletics events, in that age is often seen as an advantage rather than a hindrance, and having watched 38-year-old Constantina Dita win an Olympic marathon gold two years ago, Yamauchi is confident her best years are still to come.

“As I’ve got older, I’ve got mentally stronger and some of the training I can do now, I would never have been able to do when I was younger,”

said Yamauchi, who is now based in Japan.

“It would have been too hard for me. I’ve developed the mental strength, the concentration and the focus over a long period of time and that’s what you need to run the marathon. It isn’t just the race, it’s the long, hard runs in training.

“I still feel young. I think you really are only as old as you feel. I’ve got that experience now, which is vital. It counts for a lot in all races, but in the marathon you only get two or three races a year.

“Your development is a lot slower. It’s not like a sprinter who can put what they’ve learnt in one race into practice the next weekend. You have to wait half a year for the next race.”

While both Dita and former world half-marathon champion Berhane Adere are in tomorrow’s field, Yamauchi will line up at the start with realistic hopes of becoming the first British winner of the Tyneside classic since Paula Radcliffe in 2003.

Radcliffe is currently taking time out of the sport as she prepares for the birth of her second child, but Yamauchi expects the threetime London Marathon winner to be joining her on the start line for the Olympic marathon in two years time.

“I would expect Paula to be running in the London Olympics,” she said.

“I’m sure she will be there, that’s her aim as far as I’m aware.

“I see no reason why she won’t be. It will be great for British athletics if we are both in that race and both have a chance of a medal.

“Getting to the start line without injury or illness is half the battle at our age.

“We are both a similar age, 37 or so, and as you grow older injuries become more common.

“Injury management becomes paramount. Seeing Dita win the Olympic marathon a couple of years ago in her late 30s, that was great. It proves it can be done.”