http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml;sessionid=IVAMVGCUYRELZQFIQMFCM5OAVCBQYJVC?xml=/sport/2005/04/17/somara17.xml&sSheet=/sport/2005/04/17/ixsport.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=18316
By Simon Hart
(Filed: 17/04/2005)
Time has always been on Paula Radcliffe's side in London. But, as she
glances at her wristwatch during her 26.2-mile journey through the
capital's streets today, a bigger clock will be ticking; its sound
having grown steadily louder since her collapse in Athens last summer.
Where there was once certainty and invincibility, now there are
questions. At the age of 31 and in her sixth marathon, can she still
touch the heights of 2003 when she obliterated the world record? Has
she been damaged by her Olympic meltdown, and was it really caused by
anti-inflammatory tablets? Was her defeat in a recent 10km road race
in New Orleans an aberration or part of a trend? Is her golden age now
over?
All will be revealed in a fascinating Flora London Marathon today, the
25th running of the much-loved event.
She insists her training times show no sign of falling away but admits
the race is a voyage of discovery. ''It's a chance to test myself,"
she says. "You think you know where you are in your training, but you
never know 100 per cent until you get out and race."
Last week Liz McColgan, who won in London in 1996, ignited a debate
about Radcliffe's career by suggesting she may already be past her
peak. Radcliffe maintains it is too early to talk of decline and sees
no point in speculating about her biological clock.
''What can I do about it? You can't worry about things you don't know.
You run and run as hard as you can and hopefully each time things are
improving. You never know when you're going to start coming down the
other side. You know it's going to happen because you can't be running
personal bests at 90 years of age, but in training I don't see that
happening yet."
More conclusive evidence will be available today in a race that,
though it includes several formidable opponents, would have held
little fear for the Radcliffe of old. Against her are Susan Chepkemei,
whom she beat in New York last autumn, Sun Yingjie, the half-marathon
world champion, and Margaret Okayo, who won in London last year in
Radcliffe's absence. None has come close to matching the
Englishwoman's time of 2hr 15min 25sec in 2003. Anything less than a
Radcliffe victory will be seized upon by the doubters.
She is certainly thinking positively. She has asked the race
organisers to provide pacemakers that will take her through the
halfway mark in 68 min 30 sec, which would put her on course for a
time of 2 hr 17min - or even less given that in both her previous
London Marathons she ran the second half faster than the first.
Unlike two years ago, Radcliffe will not be provided with male
pacemakers this time but she believes her world record is still
beatable given the right conditions.
''It's definitely possible," she says. "Even with male pacemakers, you
still have to run every step of the way, and in 2003, most of the time
I was running alongside them not behind them. Running with them wasn't
helping me or pushing me or sheltering me from the wind.
''I don't feel the time I set two years ago is just way up there and
that I can never get near it again. But, at the same time, I've always
said that when I come to London it's all about winning the race. It's
about running well and having fun out there and enjoying it.
''In 2003 a lot of things came together. We had good weather and
really good support. Everything just clicked and I felt great on the
day. I would love all those things to happen again here to give me
another chance to do that, but the most important thing is to win."
Afterwards she will take a holiday before deciding whether to contest
another marathon at this summer's World Athletics Championships in
Helsinki or to switch to the 10,000m - the same dilemma she faced
before Athens. Her decision will be dictated by how she fares today
and how quickly she recovers.
While London represents a key part of the post-Athens healing process,
Helsinki offers a much bigger prize - the chance to claim her global
championship title. Maybe even her last chance.
''I think it's a very good chance, but I don't know about my last
chance," she says. "Look at Kelly Holmes. She had her best chance at
the age of 34. Had you asked her when she was 31, she probably would
have said she was worried about ever winning a title. Of course she
would have been worried."
If Athens has taught Radcliffe anything, it is not to obsess about the
future and to make the most of the present. "Things are not always
predictable in sport, and that's why people watch it," she said. "It's
not as if you are going to draw your pension at a certain age and that
everything is mapped out. It's not. You just have to take what can,
whenever you can."
ENDS
