Paula Radcliffe believes passion, rather than age, will determine whether she is able to end her Olympic heartbreak in 2012.

The 34-year-old will compete for the first time since the Beijing Games in the New York Marathon on 2 November.

That will be less than three months after an injury-hit preparation took its toll in China as Radcliffe limped home in 23rd place.

That the victor that day, Romania's Constantina Tomescu-Dita, won at the age of 38 is reason enough for optimism as the world record holder looks ahead.

But Radcliffe said: "I think you have to go a lot on how you feel, from an energy point of view, I don't feel like I'm hanging on by any means.

"I've always said that the end of my competitive career will probably be signalled by the fact I don't have the desire to go out and put in the huge amount of work in training every day.

"I don't feel like that now. It's how you feel rather than how old you are. I think I have good runs left in me.

"I just need to steer clear of injuries and keep the build-up strong."