The 2:29 British marathoner will take to the streets of London this spring.

Charlotte Purdue is the latest athlete named in the elite field for the Virgin Money London Marathon on April 28.

Purdue will no doubt be aiming for a strong performance in the UK capital after a difficult and testing 12 months with the historic distance.

The 27 year-old, who clocked a personal best of 2:29:23 in London two years ago, was set to return in 2018, however, a thigh injury resulted in her withdrawl weeks before the race.

Focus then shifted to the summer’s European Championships, but in the end, there was further marathon disappointment in Berlin. Hamstring and calf issues would be her undoing, with the British international forced to drop out mid-race.

Having run three 2:30 or quicker marathons in 2017, Purdue was determined to have one uninterrupted race in 2018 and aimed to bounce back at November’s New York City Marathon.

Ahead of New York, she hoped for a confidence boosting run at September’s Great North Run, however, circumstances went against her that day too, and with two miles to go, she fell over due to dizziness.

Purdue was intent on completing the half marathon, and after spending a few minutes in the medical tent, returned to the race and crossed the finish line.

Following the race, the Aldershot athlete learnt that she had been suffering from a virus for weeks and was advised to withdraw from New York and recover.

The marathon is an unforgiving distance and few know that more than Purdue after the last 12 months. Hopefully, training and race preparations are all on track for a positive performance in April ahead of the World Championships in Doha.

“I want to make the World Championship team for Doha,” said the GB marathon star. “I want to run a PB at the Virgin Money London Marathon because I think I can go a lot faster than I did in 2017.

“I think my World Championship performance proved that. I just haven’t had the right race yet so I’m hoping the London Marathon will be the right race for me.”

Meanwhile, on Monday (January 14), organisers announced the return of world record holder and defending champion Eliud Kipchoge.

Kipchoge won his third London Marathon title last year before going on to set a new marathon world record of 2:01:39 in Berlin. Once again, the 34 year-old will line up with Britain’s Mo Farah on the start line.

Farah ran a British record to finish third in London before running a European record 2:05:11 to win October’s Chicago Marathon.

The latest news on the London Marathon can be found here.

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