Olympic marathon runner Mara Yamauchi has decided not to compete in the European Championships marathon in Barcelona.

Yamauchi, who feels the Catalan city will be too hot at the end of July, finished a disappointing 10th in the women’s Virgin London marathon race on Sunday.

The 2009 runner-up raced in London after a six-day travel ordeal from New Mexico, where she had trained at altitude.

But the former Richmond athlete, now based in Japan, was three minutes slower than last year.

“The journey tired me out more than I thought,” said the 36-year-old.

Her hopes of winning evaporated around the halfway point when she lost contact with the leading group.

She completed the race in two hours 26 minutes, 16 seconds, more than four minutes behind the winner.

Yamauchi admitted the injuries to her right foot she had suffered last year had disrupted her training.

“I don’t want to make excuses but I was working quite hard and putting in too much effort in the first half,” said Yamauchi.

“When the group went away I started to struggle.

“I thought about dropping out at one point but then thought that was pointless and decided to finish. I am not too disappointed.”

She intends to go on holiday in Italy before returning to Japan and itends to run a marathon in the autumn.