Paula Radcliffe: Out Of the Flora 2009 London Marathon With A Broken Toe

Paula Radcliffe who was hoping to make it a 4th win in the 2009 Flora London Marathon has withdrawn with a broken toe, sustained while training at Altitude in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

 

 

 

 

Photo Credit: Conor Lawless

Paula had this to say about her withdrawal from the Marathon to be held on April 26th:

I am desperately disappointed that I have to pull out of this year’s race especially as I was looking forward to running in front of the amazing crowds of spectators in London that always offer such great support.

I am considering surgery to get myself totally healthy as soon as physically possible and ultimately prevent the bunion causing any future problems.

Paula has won the London Marathon in 2002, 2003 and 2005 including a world record performance in her 2003 victory.

Paula had a disappointing run in the 2008 Olympic Marathon in Beijing, a race in which she was clearly under-prepared after missing training due to a stress fracture in her femur. She managed to bounce back by November to win her third New York Marathon in a time of 2:23:56.

Although the elite women’s field will sorely miss the three time winner, the field is one of the strongest ever assembled and should provide an enthralling spectacle.

All three Beijing Olympic medallists will line up including champion Constantina Dita of Romania, word champion and Olympic silver medallist Catherine Ndereba of Kenya, China’s Olympic bronze medallist and 2007 Flora London Marathon champion Zhou Chunxiu, defending champion and World Marathon Majors winner Irina Mikitenko of Germany and a string of others will make the 2009 contest one of the most anticipated London Marathons ever.

Here is a full list of entrants in the women’s event:

Athlete	Country	Personal Best Time
Irina Mikitenko	Germany	2:19:19
Catherine Ndereba	Kenya	2:18:47
Zhou Chunxiu	China	2:19:51
Berhane Adere	Ethiopia	2:20:42
Lyudmila Petrova	Russia	2:21:29
Svetlana Zakharova	Russia	2:21:31
Gete Wami	Ethiopia	2:21:34
Yuri Kano	Japan	2.24.27
Tomo Morimoto	Japan	2.24.33
Mara Yamauchi	Great Britain	2:25:03
Martha Komu	Kenya	2:25:33
Mika Okunaga	Japan	2.27.52
Kirsten Melkevik Otterbu	Norway	2:29:12
Inga Abitova	Russia	2:33:55
Kate O’Neill	USA	2:34:04
Liliya Shobukhova	Russia	Debut
Jo Pavey	Great Britain	Debut