Mara Yamauchi has insisted a knee problem she picked up during a training run and which will keep her out of this weekend's Bupa Great Birmingham Run is not serious
Yamauchi, who was planning to chase the Olympic Games qualifying standard in next month's Yokohoma Marathon, has withdrawn from the half marathon race on Sunday purely as a precautionary measure.
"Mara felt a problem during a training session on Sunday but felt she would still be able to run in Birmingham," said Peter Riley, elite athletes manager of the Bupa Great Birmingham Run.
"However after doing some cross training it has become a little painful in the last couple of days and she feels it will take a few more before she is ready to race."
The 2008 Olympic Marathon sixth-place finisher was scheduled to face Louise Damen, who will be one of her main rivals for a place in next year's British team for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Gemma Steel who is establishing herself as one of the country's most consistent distant running performers.
Yamauchi, after a 10 month lay off with a troublesome hamstring injury, made an inconspicious return to action when dropping out of last month's Bupa Great North feeling unwell eight miles into the race.
However the 38-year-old quickly bounced back when, three weeks later, she was a runaway winner of the ASICS Grand 10k road race in Berlin in a time just two seconds shy of her lifetime best.
Riley, fully understanding her decision, said there is every likelihood that Yamauchi, who needs a race before Yokohoma, may now compete in the Bupa Great South Run over 10 miles next weekend.
The Bupa Great Birmingham Run will feature the presence of Haile Gebrselassie in the men's race, who will be making his first appearance since dropping out of the BMW Berlin Marathon a month ago with breathing problems, the venue where he also lost his world record to Kenya's Patrick Makau.
Further details are available at www.greatrun.org
