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This page has been re-done to provide the race report as
it happened ... from start to finish ...
The London Marathon 2003 starts with Paula Radcliffe, as
well as the group of male pacesetters
The conditions are pretty decent.
After an opening 5:10 mile it is Paula and 2 pacestters up
front, 20m clear.
The 2nd mile is 5:08 with the 3rd mile a staggering 4:57
.. OK Paula point taken ... BUT this is awesome ... can she
maintain such a staggering pace.
At 5 miles - 25:32 - Radcliffe is on 2:14 pace ... has she
gone too fast ??? ... She is clad in red and white with gloves,
there may be a small chill in the air, however the sun is
shining.
Just after 5 miles [8K]. Deena Drossin of America has worked
to close the gap. The former WR holder, Catherine Ndereba
leaves the chasing women's pack and goes solo in her chase
of tracking down Radcliffe and Drossin... however she is presently
in 5th place.
6 miles - 31:15 ...
As they round the Cutty Sark, Drossin is using 2 pacesetter
helpers to close the gap on Radcliffe... This is a bold move
and a New US record is under threat for the 1st time since
1985.
Men 1st mile 4:52 : Lee Bong Ju is following the pacesetters
and is 1st male through the checkpoint.
 Radcliffes'
time through 8mile is 41:17 ... her 10K clocking was 32:01
...
This commentator was under the impression that the weather
was going to be adverse, however we are watching women's running
like it has never been seen before. At one occasion Radcliffes
gap was 20 seconds, however Drossin has cut this down to 10
seconds. We knew that the Women's Marathon was in for a transition,
however we never thought it would be of such an awesome make-over. The athlete chasing Radcliffe is not Drossin but Romania's Constantina
Dita and Susan Chepkememi of Kenya following her... So, where
is Drossin ?
Radcliffe passed through 9miles in 46:35 ... there is no
let-off in her tempo .. the only indication that she is under
slight pressure is the swing of her left hand on her pull-back
.. as Paula tires, her hands tend to come further and further
away from her body .. there is no sign of this and we will
witness something great here.
Men 2nd mile 4:53 ... this will be a tactical race
At 10 miles, Radcliffe is 40 seconds clear of the Rumanian
... 51:48
Earlier we had thought it was Dita was Drossin, we had seen
Ndereba. The Kenyan is the most experienced at running sub
2:20, and she is no doubt running at 2:17 pace at present,
which puts her not near Radcliffe, but overall she will be
there if Radcliffe falters.. Catherine the Great, certainly
looks good, with gloves and headgear still on.
11 miles - 56:58 [5:10 mile] ... 2min 45 sec quicker for
Radcliffe than last year's pace when she ran 2:18
12 miles- 62:14 - Paula is still flying and for the first
time there is a slight bob in her head... she leads by 57
secs, however the nodding is somewhat early. She is working
now .. and she is only approaching the 21K ... her last 10K
will be a very painful experience.. however Radcliffe is not
short in the 'gutsy' department.
All the attention is on Radcliffe and rightly so ... this
is total history in the making ...
Halfway - 68:02 - past London's Tower Bridge ... Drossin
in 5th is 66:58 through 20K ..on target for a US Record. 2mins
faster than Chicago pace
5
miles 23:50 for the Men they have picked up considerably.
The tempo and cadence for the women, has never been witnessed
before .. The top 10 are running faster than any women have
ever run in the marathon before ... this is awesome .. Ndereba
is 2 minutes behind at halfway .. which is maybe a 2:18 pace.
The men have been running splits consistently below 4:50
now ... 4:53 .. 4:35 .. 4:47 .. 4:43 .. 4:54 to go through
10k in 29:47 .
7m - 33:36 - The men's pack is 'massive' ... all the favourites
are present ...
Drossin is aiming for Joan Benoit's long-standing record
and if her aim was to run negative splits, picking up over
the 2nd half, she will have a few runners to track down..
However, feedback is that Dita has dropped out and Drossin
is now closing on the 3rd placed runner Adrianna Hernandez..
 16m
- 1:23.01 ... for a short moment the one pacesetter provided
dropped off the pace and now Radcliffe moves next to both
of them ... ARE YOU TIRED GUYS Paula leads by 2:20,
and has dropped one of the pacemakers ... so what was all
the controversy ???
News is fed through that ex-World star, Zola Budd has passed
Cutty Sark her aim is 2:40
Ndereba has moved into 2nd place, she is running a tacitcally
sound race, to beat the others though ... whether or not Radcliffe
cracks up only time will tell .. However, when Radcliffe tires
she works harder and this writer won't be surprised if she
destroys the pacesetter over the final miles...
The men pass through 9m in 43:15 ... For South African supporters
Ian Syster and Hendrik Ramaala are prominent..
We know Ndereba has moved into 2nd place, however it is not
clear whether Dita has dropped out, so Drossin is most likely
in 5th place still.
18m - 1:33:19 - Radcliffe on target for sub 2:16 ... This
athlete is incredible .. we witnessed it last year .. she
is hurting slightly, however the more she hurts the harder
she works .. in the latter stages the arms go ragged however
the legs maintain that tempo which is what is needed.. Another
terrible looking world-beater was Zatopek .. and boy did he
look terrible when pouring it on .. Racliffe is 1:30 up on
her Chicago time ...
Men 10m - 48:10 - The men are on 2:06:38 pace ... far quicker
than I anticipated ... tear my tickets
up ...
Red Adair ... is this the colour of Nike this year
???
The men's race is represented by the Far East upfront ..
with the African contingent making up the next blanket by
running shoulder to shoulder ... Kenya .. South Africa ..
Morrocco .. Ethiopia ... as they approach the halfway ..
The first wheel-chair finishes in 1:32:05 .. a new course
record .. Joel Jeannot of France smashing the previous record
.. will we witness Paula Radcliffe doing the same next ..
The men pass through 20K in 60:02 ... with a pack of more than 20 still
compact
This annoys me ... it looks as though the pacemaker for the
men noticed he was below target at 21K and all of a sudden
the men are thrown into single file ... DAMN .. his job is
to provide a constant pace not a ping pong session .. [Yes,
one of my pet hates is the poor standard of pacesetting witnessed
continually on track and road]
21m - 1:48:44 - Radcliffe on target on pace ... and buying
the next round in the local at this pace .. for she is on
target for a simply humungus payday ... FORGET ME NOT
bank details to follow
Ndereba is on target for a PB if she is able to maintain
.. which a year ago would have been a WR [World Record]
Drossin has moved into 3rd place...
Mouzzizz slides to the front .. and one wonders whether Tergat
will allow him to go .. then all of a sudden he slows the
pace ... YES this will become tactical ... is my 2:08 finish
ON ... no ways .. let me tape my ticket back together ...
Radcliffe is now running with a slight breeze at her back
.. the elements are playing their part ... she has now completed
2Hrs of running and the WR is so so ON and the
followers are on for something great as well ... YES .. Drossin
may be on target for a sub2:20 and is within striking distance
of the Kenyan.
Radcliffe is gritting her teeth, she is now working like
no tomorrow .. she wants to put this record out of target
for a few years to come ..
The men have slowed to running 5minute miles .. what has
happened where are the delegated pacesetters ... or did they
drop out at 21K ??? Tactical it is ...
24m - 2:04:06 - a 5:03 mile ... come on Paula take the male
pacesetter out ... she is hurting but she is raising her game
...
To be honest ... Radcliffe looks better than last year ...
no doubt about that ... she is well into the last 2K as she
goes into Parliament Square.
2:13 on the clock she is digging deeper .. this is magnificent
... she is flying as she picks up her cadence...
All the attention is on Radcliffe and rightly so ... this
is total history in the making ...
In to the final straight 2:15 on the clock ... she is pumping
...
2:15:25
The young Brit, in only her 3rd marathon has obliterated
her own record by almost 2 minutes .. With Radcliffe holding
the previous mark at 2:17:18 , a time she set in Chicago 2002
in her 2nd attempt..
Catherine Ndereba slowed to break 2:20, however she is a
long way back ... 2:19:54
Deena Drossin beats the American record with 2:21.15
The men pass through 21m - 1:42 ... with a pack of 8 .. Tergat
.. Syster and Ramaala of South Africa.. Baldini of Italy ..
Moussizz .. Abera of Ethiopia .. Bong Ju of Korea
The men are racing now ... Mouzzizz is testing the athletes
.. as is his like ... he surges to the fore and is covered
immediately by Abera ...
There are 6 in strong contention with 3 miles to go .. Pulled
along by Mouzzizz
The miles are not quick .. a 4:56 .. but the surges are obviously
of a different force ... Baldini, 2nd in '97 goes to the front
.. the slow mile has allowed 7 to be in the group, with the
Korean now in the pack.
Baldini grabs water and accelerates opening a 2m gap, which
the others will need to work to cover ... always an elite
athletes tactic .. water point surges..
Can Tergat finally break his marathon duck, as the athletes
move into 2 Hours of running ?? ... Mouzzizz goes back to
the front, trying to work up the pace..
 We
into the 25mile - 2:02:04 - the last mile and they still tucked
together . The Korean is gone
Baldini to the front again .. it is a constant pace but not
a surge .. they in Parliament Square and there is nothing
between them .. you can throw a blanket over them ..
Mouzziz switches to the outside and goes to the front ...
Tergat is stalking and Abera is still there..
Abera 1st 2:07:56 .. Baldini 2nd ... 2:07:57 .. 5 men sprinted
towards the finish and it was somewhat disaapointing to see
Tergat disappear out the top 3 with less than 40m to go. Baldini
gave his all, and was outsprinted for the 2nd time to finish
in the same time as 1997, when Pinto took the honours after
a sprint finish.
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