Paula Radcliffe churning up the field at the 2008 ING NYCM, photo by PhotoRun.net.
Paula Radcliffe is a phenomenon. The women is one of the toughest runners in our sport. That is fact. She can draw inspiration from somewhere within herself, like no one of her generation.
Her 2:15:25 world record is an amazing performance. But, there has been a price. It takes time to recover from such a performance. Her Olympic performances have suffered, but I grew to respect her for her 2008 Beijing performance. She understands the words of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who revived the Olympic Games, "it is better to have competed...".
How fast will Paula Radcliffe run today? We shall see....
RADCLIFFE THINKS ABOUT COURSE RECORD
NEW YORK (USA): Paula Radcliffe insists winning a fourth New York City Marathon title is the top priority on Sunday but hasn‘t ruled out challenging the six-year-old course record belonging to Margaret Okayo. The tiny Kenyan clocked 2:22:31 and Radcliffe whose fastest in her three outings in the New York event is 2:23:09, believes attacking it is a possibility.
Radcliffe chasing a third successive win but slowed in the early stages 12 months ago by the wind particularly on Verrazano Bridge, said: „It depends on the conditions and the race as well but my shape‘s there.” The 35-year-old world record holder with a time of 2:15:25 also believes despite recent injury setbacks she can continue her career until the 2012 London Olympics and maybe even beyond. Kenyan Salina Kosgei isn‘t nervous at being tipped as the likeliest competitor to upset Paula Radcliffe‘s plans. The 32-year-old Kenyan however feels her win at the Boston Marathon in the spring will assist in catapulting herself to another top performance against Radcliffe, along with Yuri Kano of Japan another highly rated contender.
For more on the marathon, check out our friends at http://www.MarathonGuide.com
To check the official site, check out http://www,runningnetwork.com
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