BETH Allott will use her local knowledge to make show she knows every step of the marathon course at this summer's Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

And with this the 24-year-old Bury athlete is hoping to pick up a medal - helped by hearing local voices cheer her on on July 28.

"The race is in Manchester and that is going to make it even more special for me," admitted Beth.

"I will get a lot of support from people I know but also from people in general because I am from the city.

"I know the conditions and I will know the course very well. I've got plenty of time to look at the course and practise tactics."

Beth picked up a Games qualification time by running a personal best of 2hrs 34mins 43secs over the 26 miles 385 yards to come second in the Lisbon marathon in Portugal in November.

''I am hoping for a medal and I strongly believe I'm in with a chance. That is my motivation - knowing that I have a realistic opportunity.

''In terms of pressure I don't think it will make that much difference because I will be completely focused on the race. If anything I suppose I will relax a little bit more.

''The crowd will become important later on in the race when you are feeling really tired.

"That's when you're running on adrenalin and a few shouts from the crowd might just give you a little bit extra.''

The UK's top female marathon runner is a former pupil of Woodhey High School, Ramsbottom, and first joined Bury Athletics Club when she was nine.

According to Beth, who now runs for Salford Harriers, her talent for running only really developed when she was a student at Loughborough University.

She said: "I used to run in the 800m and the 1500m but I was never really that good at school."

It was in her final year of a sports science degree that she started to recognise her full potential.

She ran the Sheffield half marathon at lightning speed and decided that it would be worth devoting a lot more time to the sport.

"I was running the half marathon to raise money for a trip to Africa," added Beth.

"But because I did so well I never went to Africa as I decided to concentrate on running."

Beth believes she has inherited her competitive instinct from her father who used to compete in the 110m hurdles - also she is also thankful for her mother's help.

''I was aware that my mum was in the crowd in Portugal when I made the qualifying time. She has been wonderful throughout my career and I was really pleased she could be there.

"She has given me a lot of financial and emotional support over the years."

At the moment she is juggling a punishing training schedule with a teacher training course.

She is studying at Bolton Institute until June to become a teacher of sports science.

"Financially it is quite hard to train and study at the same time.

"As the Games approach it will be harder because I will be running more than over 100 miles every week to build up my fitness levels.

''But I just want the opportunity to train and train hard and it is possible to manage both. I enjoy teaching because I think it is important and it is a good flexible job.

"Once I've got the qualification I'll be able to do athletics full-time for the next two or three years. Then I'll have something to fall back on later," she said.

Her ultimate ambition is to be in the top 30 marathon runners in the world and eventually she would like to run the event in 2hrs 25mins.

"That sort of time is what makes you a world class athlete, rather than a top national one."

And she is not scared of mixing it with the big names, despite not being used to such illustrious company.

''I'm quite new to this scene because I'm not a big international athlete. It doesn't scare me - the names don't intimidate me because I just set out to run my own race as fast as I can."