Posted: January 10, 2005

Athletics: Radcliffe To Headline London Marathon Field

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

The fastest woman ever for the standard marathon distance, Paula Radcliffe of Loughborough, England, will headline the women's field for the 25th edition of the Flora London Marathon scheduled for Sunday, 17-Apr.

"It doesn’t get any better than this for the 25th anniversary," said race director David Bedford via a press release. "After announcing the greatest men's field ever we now have the greatest women's distance runner ever."

Radcliffe has competed, and won, twice before in London, first in her marathon debut in 2002 (2:18:56) and again in 2003 (2:15:25) when she ran the fastest-ever time. Radcliffe's other marathon victories include Chicago in 2002 (2:17:18) and New York City last November (2:23:10). She has only been defeated once in a marathon when she dropped out of the Olympic Games last August in Athens. The London race will be her sixth career marathon.

In the 2005 edition of the marathon in London, women will run ahead of, and separately from, the men without the benefit of male pacemakers. The race will offer a world record bonus for the best time ever achieved in an all-women's marathon, Radcliffe's 2:18:56 from 2002. Organizers refused to disclose if Radcliffe would earn an additional private bonus if she ran faster than her mixed-gender record of 2:15:25.

Organizers have slightly modified the course to make it faster and Radcliffe is excited about it. "I was definitely interested to see the changes that have been made to the London course," she said in a written statement. "I thought it was always a great course but the changes may make it quicker."

Radcliffe had also been courted by the BAA Boston Marathon, which will be held one day after London, but chose the British race, instead. "Boston is definitely a race that I want to do at some point but London is very special to me," said Radcliffe. "I don't pick races thinking about things like pressure. I pick the ones that in my heart I really want to do. I love the atmosphere, crowds and course and know it will always be a great quality race."

The announcement of Radcliffe's participation comes on the heels of Bedford's announcement of one of the greatest men's fields ever assembled in a marathon, led by world record holder Paul Tergat, former world record holder Khalid Khannouchi, the world's #1 ranked marathoner Evans Rutto, and Olympic medalists Stefano Baldini and Meb Keflezighi.

Radcliffe has not committed to any competitions prior to London, but may compete at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in March in St. Galmier, France. She's won a total of five individual medals at those championships, including the Senior Women's 8 km gold medal twice, in 2001 and 2002.