LONDON, 17 April 2004 — Two-time winner Joyce Chepchumba of Kenya believes tomorrow’s London Marathon will be won in a very fast time despite the absence of world record-holder Paula Radcliffe.
The Briton will not be defending the title she won for a second successive year 12 months ago in a world record 2hr 15min 25sec. But Chepchumba still feels the race will be won in a sub-2:20.00 time for the third consecutive year.
“I’m pretty certain no-one is going to run 2:15 - Paula did that with pacemakers,” the Kenyan said. “She might not be running on Sunday and I understand her reasons. But there are still 10 of the best marathon runners in the world taking part.
“Her time has been an inspiration to all women marathon runners. We know we must go faster ourselves now. “I’m sure if she had competed here, it would have also made the rest of us run very, very fast. But I think it will still be a great race. “I don’t want to predict times, but all of us know running under two hours 20 minutes is very possible.”
The 33-year-old Kenyan, who won Olympic bronze four years ago, believes Radcliffe is right in deciding not to contest a marathon before the Athens Olympics in August.
“The faster you run, and particularly at the speed she does, it takes much longer for your body to recover,” Chepchumba said.
“Obviously she feels racing in April and again in August is a little too close. Different athletes have much longer recovery times.”
