Sonia O'Sullivan set an Irish record (30.47.59) and earned a silver medal at the European Championships last night in Munich but the Cobh woman but the jubilation usually associated with such a feat was noticeable absent.

After the race she lamented, "I'm happy with it but it is hard to be too happy when someone finishes nearly 300 metres in front of you. In fact, you get a little bit concerned as to why you are not up there. I'm glad she didn't lap me!"

Paula Radcliffe was brilliant. The head-bobbing Brit set a blistering pace and oozed confidence. In the past when she was voted most likely to be out-kicked, her front running tactics were scoffed. But since her breakthrough win in Belgium at the 2001 World Cross Country Championships she's been more self-assured. She defended that title this March in Dublin, ran 2.18.56 in marathon debut at London in April and less than a fortnight ago she won the Commonwealth Games 5,000 metre title. After that race where she easily beat her Kenyan foes, she commented, "The time is irrelevant - I had to win this race. Now I've got the bear off my back of not winning a major championship." In many track circles, last night's performance is viewed as the clean 10k world record. Officially, China's Junxia Wang's time of 29.31.78 from 1993 is the recognised record but many believe there was more than turtle poop in the soup she consumed courtesy of her curious coach Ma Junren.

Radcliffe opened the race with a 2.59.16 kilometre, passed the halfway mark in 14.57.65 and closed with a 2.57.53. Her time of 30.01.09 broke Ingrid Kristiansen's 16-year-old European record of 30:13.74. Radcliffe's only regret was that she narrowly breaking the 30-minute barrier saying, "I would have been happier if I had run 29:59, but then it was important to break the record and that's what I did. In fact, I went out there to win the race."

Early on, O'Sullivan and Atlanta Olympic 10k champion Fernanda Ribeiro from Portugal chased the relentless Radcliffe in vain. Ribeiro dropped out with 4 kilometres remaining. From that point on it was Radcliffe and O'Sullivan running separate races. Radcliffe's performance was grand but O'Sullivan has a plenty to proud of but with her lofty standards and stellar past, exuberance was in short supply. When asked about her performance she replied, "You set a national record, you win a medal but there's no elation or anything like that. One thing, if you're not going to win, you better finish second. I think I'm a bit inexperienced at 10,000. I haven't really thought about it but Paula's run plenty. I suppose I ran that one alone in the middle and the Olympics [where Sonia the Irish record of 30.53.37] as well. It's difficult to get going when you know you are not going to win the race. I feel I've got to get something out of it. It's faster than I've ever done before. I suppose I can't really ask for more than that. Deep down I know I can run a lot better than that. It's hard to be really excited - I've won it before."

Marie McMahon Davenport (Marian AC) ran 17th in 32.35.11 for 17th and Anne Keenan Buckley (North Laois AC) was 26th in 33.19.94.