Hamburg  - Irina Mikitenko of Germany said on Wednesday she will run her next marathon on October 11 in Chicago after withdrawing from the world championship race in Berlin in the wake of her father's death.

"I need a challenge and I have heard that they have a good and a fast course there (in Chicago," said the 37-year-old Mikitenko.

Mikitenko won the London Marathon 2008 and 2009 and the Berlin marathon in 2008. She was a favourite for the August 23 event at the home worlds but withdrew two weeks before the race after the death of her father. (dpa)