Retired El Guerrouj still full of running

BEAVERTON, Oregon, May 27 (Reuters) Morocco's Olympic 1,500 and 5,000 metres champion Hicham El Guerrouj has retired from competitive athletics, but the 31-year-old still wants to run.

The Moroccan, who announced his retirement at a tear-filled news conference in Casablanca earlier in the week, said he now planned to turn his attention to running marathons.

''I want to run the best marathons in the world .... for fun, for pleasure,'' El Guerrouj, speaking through a translator, told Reuters in an interview yesterday.

''New York, London, Chicago, I want to run them all,'' he said, adding that he planned to begin the multi-year project with November's New York marathon.

''If I train well, I think I can run sub two hours and 25 minutes.'' While that would not threaten Paul Tergat's world record of 2:04.55, it would be enjoyable, he added.

Once averaging 140 kilometres a week in training for his mile races, he now runs about 12 kiolmetres three or four times a week.

''It's not very intensive training,'' he admitted.

''I had been running since I was very young. The last 18 years at a high level.'' He now hopes to spend more time with his family while remaining close to the sport.

DIFFICULT DECISION El Guerrouj said the decision to retire had been a difficult one, but once made it had ended the stress that had kept him awake at night wondering about his career.

While he would not single out one race in his string of five world records, seven world championships and two Olympic titles as his biggest victory, El Guerrouj did reveal what he thought was his ''best race.'' ''It was the (2004) Athens 1,500 because I achieved a very nice Olympic story.'' ''All the years before, when people said I was going to win, I lost. In 2004, they said I was going to lose, and I won.'' El Guerrouj had fallen and placed 12th in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, then lost a duel with Kenya's Noah Ngeny in the 2000 Sydney Games.

A virus had hampered his training in Athens, but he charged to the emotional 1,500 metres victory to give him two golds for the Games. The other came in the 5,000 metres where he defeated world record holder Kenenisa Bekele.

''The best victory is to retire like I have now with such success,'' he said.

The Athens victories would be his last as injuries prevented a return to the track.

Reuters AY GC1000