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E.T. Paula...(time given...)
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don't read further if you have taped it...

Paula Radcliffe (as predicted by Andrew) has smashed her own previous world best at London
marathon...

2h15'25''...
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Re: E.T. Paula...(time given...) [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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Nice day for a fast marathon - about 10C at the start and 16C (60F) at the finish. Paula was awesome, setting the marathon, 30Km and 40km world records.

The mens finish was pretty spectacular too.

Cheers,
dt. (tired but happy after doing 2 marathons in 7 days in 3:18 and 3:24)
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Re: E.T. Paula...(time given...) [davet] [ In reply to ]
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68 then 67, unfreaking believable. if she runs the marathon in Athens there is NO runner that can hang with her because while Oly marathons are usually tactical she is so much faster than the competition she does not need to get caught up in that.

Lets hope she wraps up the 10k gold in paris leaving Athens open for the marathon.
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Re: E.T. Paula...(time given...) [Andrewmc] [ In reply to ]
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The men's race was a tactical affair with the result only being decided in the last few metres.

BBC have videoes of the finishes -
Paula - [url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39090000/rm/_39090381_sport_paula_finish_vi.ram[/url]
The men - [url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/39090000/rm/_39090519_sport_mensfinish.avi_vi.ram[/url]

When I was at 13 miles, the lead men were coming back on the other side of the road at 22 miles - there were 6-8 in a tight group at that time. No chance of seeing Paula!

Cheers,
dt.
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Re: E.T. Paula...(time given...) [Andrewmc] [ In reply to ]
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I'd be curious to see in how many countries Paula can make the B times for the olympic marathon...that is the male B time! couple of more years, and she can qualify in the mens...
if I am right 2002 was her first season running marathon?
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Re: E.T. Paula...(time given...) [Francois] [ In reply to ]
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My bet is that by the time Athens rolled around she could run the US A time which I think is 2.14.

London 02 was her first 2.18 and change, she said afterwards she forgot to look at her watch other wise she might have got close to the WR.

Chicago was worth a 2.16 something given the last three miles coming north.

I can wait to see this on tape in four weeks.
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Re: E.T. Paula...(time given...) [Andrewmc] [ In reply to ]
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I sure hope that Paula can win the Marathon next summer in Athens.

However, the World Best time marathon runners, both men and women have historically struggled in World Championship and Olympic marathons. Clearly they are favoirites going in, but these WC and Olympic marathon's are almost completely diiferent races. Why?

- They are often held in less than ideal conditions - typically in hot temps and not run at the best time of the day.

- The course is often not the fastest marathon course around sometimes with some hills of significance

- The pace is often slow and the race tactical - throwing off the timing/form of the really top runners( note the comments of Men's World Best time Marathon runner Kahnoucci after DNF'ing at the Edmonton World Championships "I felt terrible running at that slower pace" Seems absurd, but it's true. If he's trained to run a marathon at 4:45 pace the whole way he feels very different and possibly uncomfortable running 5:10 mils for the first half. That's how finely tuned and specific these athletes are.

- as an adjunct to the last point, it may come down to a sprint finish. Some of the greatest marathon runners ever are terrible sprinters.

- There is the Olympic and World Championship pressure - which is huge and has forced many a great athlete to tense up under pressure and under achieve.

- There is no direct money on the line, of note at the Olympics/ WC's. The payday for winning a major marathon such as London et. al. in a World Best time is huge. Paula's take home from London was possibly close to $1 millon.

All said, I think that Paula's plan is to go on a recon mission to Athen's this summer at the same time of year as next summers' Olympic marathon and check out the course and other factors. She will then decide if she will run the marathon or the 10K on the track.


Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog
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