Catherina McKiernan will decide within the next week the date and venue of her final preparatory race before attempting to win the London marathon for a second consecutive year on April 18th.

After defying a blistered foot to celebrate her first race in four months with a win in the Paris half marathon last Sunday, McKiernan and her coach Joe Doonan arrived in the Algarve yesterday for the start of three weeks warm-weather training.

Apart from the fact that it will be over 10,000 metres, she has no idea as yet about the arrangements for her next race but hopes to be in a position to make an announcement after consulting with her agent, Ray Flynn.

"There are a number of races which could fit the bill but the important thing is that I find one which will give me the kind of run I need to find out where exactly I'm at, in terms of fitness," she said.

"Naturally, I'll be looking to win it but at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that I come out of it in better shape for the London marathon."

McKiernan is keeping a sense of perspective after comfortably containing the challenge of Switzerland's Daria Nauer and, perhaps, more significantly, Marlene Renders of Belgium, last Sunday.

"When you come back after a long injury, you expect that you can resume where you left off. That clearly, is never going to happen and in spite of winning easily enough, there is still a lot of room there for improvement.

"That's a bit different to the situation at the same time last year and it means I have a lot of hard work ahead of me over the next six weeks. The encouraging thing is that my knee held up well and with this experience behind me, I think I can now go forward in a positive state of mind."

McKiernan, who needs special inserts for her running shoes to correct an imbalance, is still getting used to the new ones which were fitted earlier this season. For the moment, however, she can reflect on a successful expedition to Paris where, in spite of the relatively slow time, she was always in control in putting a lot of daylight between herself and the chasing pack.

BLE are now almost certain to facilitate Mark Carroll in his request for pre-selection for the the short course version of the world cross country championship in Belfast at the end of the month.

Carroll, who passed up the chance of challenging for a medal in the world 3,000 metres indoor championship in Japan at the weekend, contends that his training programme would be disrupted if he has to travel home for the trials in Dublin next Sunday.

In the circumstances, that seems reasonable but it invites the statement that if the European 5,000 metres bronze medallist is facilitated, consistency demands that BLE afford Niall Bruton the same treatment.

Like Carroll, Bruton is putting the final touches to his preparations in America and while his profile in recent months has been markedly lower than that of the Cork athlete, his vast international experience should be weighed in the balance before the selectors make their decision.

Among those likely to be on the starting line next Sunday is Gareth Turnbull, the accomplished Belfast runner who has been hailed as one of the better newcomers to emerge over the last three years.

Turnbull, at the start of a career which promises much, is preparing diligently for the biggest assignment of his career and the point is likely to be illustrated in his performance at the weekend.

Among those seeking pre-selection for the women's short course team is Sinead Delahunty and no less than Carroll, her claims are pretty irrefutable on the evidence of her American form this season.

Una English, who withdrew from the national championship at Stranorlar, is another with an obvious contribution to make to the squad and looks pretty well assured of inclusion when it is finalised next Sunday evening.