RADCLIFFE TO DEFEND ING NEW YORK CITY MARATHON TITLE
By David Monti
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission
NEW
YORK (01-Oct) -- World marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe said
today that she would be on the starting line of the ING New York City
Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 2, to defend her title. The two-time New York
champion, who won a thrilling duel with three-time Olympic medalist
Gete Wami at last year's race, said she has bounced back from a stress
fracture of her left femur which put her on crutches for three weeks
and short on preparation for the Beijing Olympic Marathon last August.
In Beijing she bravely limped to a 23rd place finish.
"Hopefully,
good shape, and good enough shape to commit to running the race,"
Radcliffe told reporters on an international conference call today when
asked about her fitness. She added: "I'm pleased to come back to New
York, defend my title and run well there."
Radcliffe's participation in the race was confirmed by New York Road Runners president and CEO, Mary Wittenberg.
"We
just did the deal with Paula yesterday," Wittenberg told reporters on
the teleconference as she waited to board a flight at a New York
airport.
Radcliffe, 34, revealed that her body did not sustain
any lasting damage from the Olympic Games, but that she took her time
to fully recover before resuming her normal training. She reported
some inflammation at the base of her spine, but that condition had
cleared up normally with rest. The stress fracture, which she suffered
last May, had fully healed, but her body was noticeably weaker on the
left side.
"I knew I had a lot of strengthening work to do,"
said Radcliffe, who lifted weights three times a week and did "core"
exercises to assure the strength and stability of her back and abdomen.
Radcliffe
was under tremendous pressure to achieve a medal in Beijing after
dropping out of the Athens Olympic Marathon in 2004. She was unable to
do a full marathon preparation prior to Beijing because of the injury,
and replaced most of her usual running mileage with cross training in a
pool and on a cross country skiing machine before transitioning to
running on a special treadmill which reduced her effective body
weight. She arrived on the starting line adjacent to Tiananmen Square
with good aerobic fitness, but insufficient mileage and strength in her
legs. She limped badly in the final kilometers of the race which were
clearly very painful. Her 2:32:38 finish time was remarkable given all
of her difficulties leading up to the race.
Radcliffe indicated
today that she may have one more Olympic Games remaining in her career,
a tantalizing thought given that the 2012 Games are in home country of
Great Britain.
"I don't think my Olympic career is over yet,"
she said, admitting that she would be past her physical prime. But she
pointed to the fact that 2008 Olympic champion Constantina Dita of
Romania won the race at 38 years-old (Radcliffe would be the same age
at the London Olympics). She still loves to run.
"I still
have a huge enjoyment and desire to go out and run each day," she
said. "It would be hard to have that (an Olympic medal) missing from
my career."
NOTE: Read a detailed account of Radcliffe's
recovery program in the New York Times by science reporter Gina Kolata
at this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/sports/othersports/27radcliffe.html
ENDS