Radcliffe recalls road rivalry with Kenyans
Former women’s world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe has recalled with nostalgia the huge rivalry she shared with Kenyans during her heyday.
The Briton nonetheless says she is humbled to be one that broke the Kenya and Ethiopia dominance in the discipline back then.
Radcliffe has revealed she had a great team behind her that helped her to dominate and set the longstanding world record that lasted for 16 years.
“I broke into the senior ranks in 1992. I had a lot of European inspirations who motivated me,” said Radcliffe at the Eka Hotel in Nairobi yesterday.
“They showed me it was possible to compete with the Kenyans and Ethiopians and win.
“While young Kenyan girls started the sport and believed they would dominate because everyone else is already doing so, to me the doors were already opened so I tried not to put a barrier on them,” she said.
Shoe technology
Radcliffe said hard work enabled her to get the best in athletics including setting a 2:15:25 record which stood between 2003-2019 and was ultimately broken by Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei.
Radcliffe said that improved shoe technology and general training will see mainly Kenyans or Ethiopians improve the world record.
However, it took 16 years before Kenya’s Brigid Kosgey broke Radcliffe’s world marathon record when she won the 2019 Chicago Marathon in 2:14:04.
Radcliffe set the record when she won the 2003 London Marathon in 2:15:25.
“It’s quite possible the record will go again in the next one year or two when you see how the likes of Brigid and Peres Jepchirchir are running,“ said Radcliffe.
She adds that recent phenomenal performance from the world half marathon record holder Letesenbet Gidey from Ethiopia is enough evidence.
Gidey holds both the half marathon and 10,000m world records of 1:02:52 and 29:01.03 all set this year in Valencia and Hengelo, the Netherlands, respectively.
“Brigid had a great run breaking my record. This shows that women now believe they can, their standards have really improved,” she said.
Eka Hotel will host Radcliffe’s stay both in Nairobi and in Eldoret where she will preside over an 80km race dubbed the Great Equator Run.
The competition will start at the Equator line in Timboroa and will snake all its way to Eldoret town.
The proceeds from the race will be used to build a children’s cancer hospital in Eldoret.
“The government has given us land behind the Shoe4Africa Children’s Hospital where we will set up the 152-bed unit,” Shoe4Africa CEO Toby Tanser said.
Radcliffe was accompanied by her husband Gary Lough and their children Isla, 14, and Raphael 11.
