News09 Apr 2003


Ndereba and Tulu to give Radcliffe a run for her money

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Catherine Ndereba running the Philly (© Victah Sailer)

LondonPaula Radcliffe has been warned victory in Sunday’s London Marathon is not a foregone conclusion.

British bookmakers have effectively written off her rivals, listing Radcliffe as an overwhelming ¼ favourite with former world record-holder Catherine Ndereba available at an almost insulting 10/1.

But Ndereba insists she is ready to avenge her defeat to Radcliffe in Chicago where she also lost her world record to the European 10,000m champion.

She says: “I always have belief in myself and I am ready to run fast on Sunday.” Ndereba is clearly not at ease with the fact eight male pacemakers have been installed but she shrugs: “It is out of my hands, there is nothing I can do about it.

“When I agreed to run the London Marathon I was excited because it was an opportunity to run just against women, but then maybe two months ago I heard about the men running. All I can do is run my best and I am confident I will do well.

“All my preparation has gone as well as I would like so now I will just leave it to God who is a great strength to me.”

The Kenyan echoed the sentiments of Radcliffe, who yesterday suggested she is capable of running as fast on her own as she can in company. She said: “Yes, of course, so could I. I am very well prepared. People are saying Paula will win but I am capable of taking back the world record. What is taken away from you often comes, back, that is sport.”

If Ndereba wins on Sunday she will pocket $55,000 plus appearance fees and potential time and record bonuses, a huge amount for someone who first took to running at the age of 12 because her school offered pens and notebooks as prizes.

Her father was a runner, but not in the same class as the 30-year-old who has twice done the double of winning Boston and Chicago Marathons in the same year. Indeed, she has run Boston – the scene of her marathon debut in 1999 - for the last four years so it is a big coup for Dave Bedford to tempt her to London.

She laughs: “Sometimes if you eat the same food all the time you get bored. The fact I am running London does not mean I do not like Boston, for it is a special race to me, but I wanted to taste something different.”

There is talk that Radcliffe is looking to run 2:16 on Sunday, speculation the world record-holder will not confirm, but Ndereba and double Olympic 10,000m champion Derartu Tulu insist they are not concerned.

Tulu says: “Anything can happen in the marathon. I will not say whether I think I will win, we will just have to wait until the finish on Sunday. But I am happy with my form and my victory in the Lisbon Half-marathon (in 69:20) was pleasing. I have made some changes to my training this year, concentrating more on speed and I believe I am ready to run fast on Sunday.”

Tulu has her eyes on recapturing the Ethiopian record Gete Wami took from her in Amsterdam, when she made a winning debut of 2:22:20. She is also hoping to join her two rivals in the ‘sub-2:20 club’, saying: “Paula and Catherine have both run under 2:20 and that is what I would now like to do.”

World cross country silver medallist Deena Drossin is another with 2:20 on her mind but she talks realistically as she says: “If they go off at 2:16, I definitely will not go with them. I have run 2:26 in each of my marathons so my main goal on Sunday is to run a personal best. My goal is 2:20.”

That, of course, would be a US record, finally removing Joan Benoit from the record books some 18 years after she ran 2:21:21 in Chicago.

Drossin says: “The politics of whether it would count as a US record due to the male pacemakers has not been cleared, but I don’t need to see my name in the record books to get the satisfaction. Really I race for internal reasons and even if they didn’t ratify it I would still feel the honour.

“I have hardly done any races where there haven’t been pacemakers, whether it is on the track, shorter road distances or the marathon. Does it matter whether there are male or female pacemakers - we still have to run the distance.”

Susan Chepkemei, the fastest female half-marathon runner in history – albeit on a slightly downhill Lisbon course – will be hoping to finally fulfil her marathon potential on Sunday. She was fifth in London last year in 2:23:19, her PB but undoubtedly one she is capable of improving.

Ludmila Petrova (2:22:32) and Constantina Dita (2:23:54) also boast useful PBs while Adriana Fernandez cannot be discounted.

But all eyes will be on the big three – Radcliffe, Ndereba and Tulu and for the first time in history 2:20 may not even get on the podium.

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