Athletics: Radcliffe lifts women's mark to fresh heights

The London Marathon leaderboard for women competitors told its own story.

The number in the frame, from first mile to last, was 101 - Paula Radcliffe's. The defending champion left no room for error.

Radcliffe's physical therapist, Ger Hartmann, described her winning time of 2h 15m 25s, which took 1m 53s off the world best she had set in Chicago six months earlier, as a "quantum leap" in the event.

"I have worked with 42 Olympic medallists and I don't know anyone else who works so hard nor is so dedicated to what they do," Hartmann said.

"The other girls are going to have to start thinking of ways to bridge the gap because I know Paula can run faster again."

Radcliffe has still to decide whether to contest the marathon or the 10,000m at next year's Olympics, but after a remorseless display which left her 4 1/2 minutes clear of her nearest challenger, Kenya's former world record holder Catherine Ndereba, she is entitled to feel enormous confidence about Athens.

Although the 29-year-old Radcliffe - contesting only her third marathon - manifested signs of stress later in the race, grimacing and nodding her head in characteristic fashion, her final mile before the last stretch down the Mall was completed in 4m 48s, the fastest in any women's marathon. She finished as she started - superbly.

"When I run it's not about the clock, it's about a battle with myself to see how fast I can go. Sometimes I think, if you don't see the clock all the way round, would you run faster, testing out your body's instinct? That's what I do in training."

So the world's finest woman distance runner imitated Luke Skywalker as she pounded London's streets: "Trust the Force ... "

As she sought to maintain a momentum that had seen her establish a 36s lead well before halfway, Radcliffe used mental as well as physical resources.

"You just try and block out as much as possible. I count to myself. If I count to 100 slowly three times, I've done a mile. It's all about playing mind games with yourself and taking one thing at a time.

"I thought I'd slowed down in the second half, but I'd actually run faster.

"Over the last five or six miles I was struggling with stomach cramps. They would be all right, and then go again. That was maybe why the pace was a bit erratic. But I didn't think I had over-cooked it. I knew I would finish."

And finish she did, in a time 3m 31s inside her winning mark of a year earlier.

The only serious threat en route was an over-eager cameraman on a motorcycle who had crowded her. An accident at that point would have been especially hard to take after Radcliffe's gallant recovery from her injuries after a collision with a bicyclist while training in Albuquerque five weeks ago - an incident which left her with cut knees and shoulders, a dislocated jaw and a pang of fear that she would not be able to defend her London title.

It would also have been a terrible waste of emu oil, the traditional Aboriginal remedy with which she tended her wounds.

Third-placed Deena Drossin, who broke Joan Benoit's 18-year-old US record with 2h 21m 16s, said Radcliffe's was an impressive performance.

"It was an inspiration to other runners to make little extra sacrifices and take their training to a higher level."

The men's race ended with the exhilarating sight of five men rounding the final bend in a line before a sprint finish which saw the world and Olympic champion, Gezahegne Abera, claim another title by less than a second from Italy's Stefano Baldini.

The 24-year-old Ethiopian, who makes a habit of tight finishes, had led the race for less than 2s.

Marathon efforts

* 2:15.25 Paula Radcliffe (Britain) London 13.04.03

* 2:17.18 Radcliffe Chicago 13.10.02

* 2:18.47 Catherine Ndereba (Kenya) Chicago 7.10.01

* 2:19:46 Naoko Takahashi (Japan) Berlin 30.09.01

* 2:20:43 Tegla Loroupe (Kenya) Berlin 26.09.99

* 2:20:47 Loroupe Rotterdam 19.04.98

* 2:21:06 Ingrid Kristiansen (Norway) London 21.04.85

* 2:22:43 Joan Benoit (US) Boston 18.04.83

* 2:25:29 Grete Waitz (Norway) London 17.04.83

* 2:26:11 Benoit Eugene 12.09.82

* 2:26:46 Allison Roe (New Zealand) Boston 20.04.81

* 2:29:57 Joyce Smith (Britain) London 29.03.81

- INDEPENDENT