IT has not been a month, you suspect, that Paula Radcliffe will look back on with fondness. The 41-year-old mother of two has been dragged unwillingly into the centre of a biological warfare about whether test results, on their own, are now enough to try to convict. Never mind the fact that she has now retired from competitive action.
For the marathon world record holder, who has strenuously denied allegations of irregularity, it has required a stressful round of rebuttals. Which is why, when we conversed yesterday amid her role as an ambassador for next weekend’s Bank of Scotland Great Scottish Run in Glasgow, the topic had been placed strictly off limits with the Englishwoman keen to move the debate along.
The true cheats, she has claimed, will have laughed at her situation. Track and field has other pressing concerns as Lord Coe, the new president of the IAAF, attempts to energise a revolution and restore some of the lustre lost. “There are two things going on,” Radcliffe observed.
“You see the health of the mass participation running, especially with women getting involved and people coming into it for the first time. And then on the elite side, you do see changes that need to be made: better marketing, an easier to understand circuit, and making it simpler to get youngsters engaged in it.”
Within Scotland, road events have rarely been more gargantuan with the Glasgow festival and its springtime counterpart in Edinburgh achieving record entries. So, too, the vitality of its soon-to-restart cross country circuit, a discipline over which Mother Caledonian punches above its weight.
Globally, it is in a state of disrepair. When Radcliffe was claiming back-to-back world titles over a decade ago, it was the domain of the A-List. “We need steps taken to get it back to where it was, as an iconic event of the winter that attracts everyone from the top 1500m specialists to the top marathon runners,” she proclaimed.
“Having it every two years and then moving it to countries that didn’t understand cross-country didn’t help. If they can get it back to a good level, you’ll have the individual countries getting interested and then investing in their athletes. You do see some athletes who are good at that, but who don’t transfer it to the track. But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t recognise them as top-quality athletes.”
The finest can, and do, impress at both. Laura Muir notably who had no reticence about chasing around the mud of Bellahouston Park as preparation for lapping, several months later, around the Bird’s Nest. Fifth in the world championships last month over 1500 metres, the next 12 months provide a tantalising opportunity for the young Scot.
‘The potential is there, with the way she took a huge step forward this year, Radcliffe declares. “She’s still very young and if you look at the programme of her training, you’d say she’s probably not at full tilt yet. She’s getting stronger, there are lots of areas she can improve on.
“She was fifth. That only needs a marginal improvement to get among the medals. If you look at how she ran this year, she was so confident when she got the win in Oslo and then the 3:58 in Monaco. If she gets a good base over the winter, who knows what she could do?”
Paula Radcliffe was speaking as the Bank of Scotland Ambassador for the 2015 Great Scottish Run. Paula will be attending the event on Sunday 5th October and appearing in the Bank of Scotland Marquee at the finish area in Glasgow Green throughout the day for pictures and autographs.”
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