Radcliffe ready to race

London The omens are good for a repeat victory for Paula Radcliffe in Sunday’s Flora London Marathon, but she will be happy there is a lead car and not a cycle.

Last year her preparations for her marathon debut in London were not helped when twice Chicago Marathon winner Marian Sutton collided with her when accompanying her on a bike as the multi-British record-holder trained.

And she arrived for today’s London Marathon press conference displaying nasty cuts to both knees after a more serious incident with a cyclist while training in Albuquerque last month.

The world’s fastest ever female marathon runner has only just revealed the accident which occurred on March 8, six days after her world 10km best of 30:21 in Puerto Rico. She says: “This was more serious than last year and I was left covered in blood and with a dislocated jaw.”

The accident happened shortly after Radcliffe had run past a young cyclist while training. She explains: “I had gone past her and she was out of my line of sight, but suddenly she clipped my back foot with her tyre.

“She had looked back to see where her parents were and ran into me. She was not even knocked off her bike but she was crying because I was covered in blood and had a dislocated jaw. I don’t think they recognised me, I think they thought she had just knocked over someone out for a Sunday run and didn’t realise they could potentially have put the world record-holder out of the London Marathon.

“I had bad cuts to my knees, shoulders, hands and face, and my neck was sore. I went for a run the next day but felt awful, so I took the next day off and went to see a chiropractor who worked on my neck. The following day was due to be a rest day anyway so I only had two days off but it was a worrying moment. I could not use the medicine ball for about a week and I couldn’t eat an apple for two weeks because of my jaw, but I think I was more shocked than anything.”

Radcliffe had planned to run the Mobile 10km until her accident but is happy to go into the marathon with just one race under her belt this year, and who knows her 2003 record after Sunday may read: two races, two world records.

She says: “When marathon training I don’t feel the need to race much. I don’t want to back off from training nor spend too much time travelling, so I am happy going into the marathon with just the Puerto Rico race under my belt. I would still have done the other race if it had been in Albuquerque but I think my body had had enough shock so didn’t fancy travelling too far to race.”

Radcliffe has kept her training pattern similar to last year, a schedule consisting of 140 miles per week including four main sessions – a track session, a grass session of perhaps 2km or one-mile reps, a tempo run ranging from 5-12 miles, and a long run which is between 20 and 24 miles.

She says: “The only thing I have changed is some of the routes, just to bring in a bit of variety as things can get stale otherwise. Also, you don’t want to compare times for every run you do but I did some time trials which were faster than last year. I feel I am stronger than I was last year but first and foremost I want to win rather than worry about fast times.”

Radcliffe insists she would have happily run a women only race rather than have the assistance of male runners had there been widespread objection. She says: “It was the press who started the whole thing when I read an article around Christmas where Dave Bedford was quoted saying he would consider male pacemakers if I requested them.

“I was hurt by comments that later said I was a prima donna, because I am there to race the other women, that is my priority. I believe, in perfect conditions, that I can run just as fast on my own
as against other runners.

“It should be a great race and while I am more experienced at the marathon than this time last year so many things seem the same. It’s almost even the same people I am up against, apart from Catherine Nderaba who I raced in Chicago anyway. I am still going into the race feeling a bit scared, as so many things can wrong in the marathon, but I think it is healthy to feel that way.”

One concern for London Marathon organiser is who to hand the Jim Peters Trophy to should she run to form. The trophy is handed to the first British runner, traditionally a man but Radcliffe looks set to beat all the UK men as Mark Steinle has pulled out with injury and Olympic fourth placer Jon Brown was not entered, planning to return to action with a couple of 10km outings in Canada in the near future.

Race organiser Dave Bedford is looking into whether the trophy was intended for first British male, a situation that has never cropped up in the past. But Radcliffe is used to breaking down barriers.