The podium winners of the women's Al Mouj Muscat Marathon, Ethiopia’s Astede Habtamu (second, left); silver winner, Kenya’s Perez Jerubet (left) and Bency Cheruiyot with British former world marathon champion Paula Radcliffe during the presentation cere
Paula Radcliffe’s mark of 2:15:25 remained the women’s world marathon record for 16 years.
Although Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei eclipsed the feat last year in October, Radcliffe remains as the top name in women’s long-distance running.
The Briton is a three-time winner of the London Marathon (2002, 2003, 2005), three-time New York Marathon champion (2004, 2007, 2008), and 2002 Chicago Marathon champion.
In an interview with The Peninsula in Muscat, Radcliffe – the global ambassador for the recently-concluded Al Mouj Muscat Marathon 2020 – praised Qatar’s initiatives to promote athletics in the entire region.
The 46-year-old also shared her experience of watching the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha and gave thumbs up to the midnight marathons.
She also predicted a tough Olympics for athletes this year in Japan.
Following are the excerpts of her interview:
Q - How do you see the role of Qatar in promotion of athletics in the region?
A - Qatar is playing a good role for the promotion of athletics in the region. The initiatives keep going in Doha.
Doha has some very good parks and world class venues and their stadiums are amazing.
Qatar is doing a great job in keeping the inspiration of hosting the major events going.
Q - How was the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Qatar – the first one to be hosted in the Middle East?
A - I was in Qatar for the World Championships. It was a great event. The organising committee did a very good job and everybody was very welcoming there. We saw excellent competitions, some thrilling races. The World Championships were very well done.
Q - Did you like the idea of midnight marathon during the World Championships in Doha?
A - Yes. I like the idea of midnight marathon. The first one – the women’s race - was tough because of the difficult weather conditions.
The men’s race was normal for that time of the year. It was a great race. You have to be really skilful to manage the conditions but it was really phenomenal event and looked great in pictures.
Q - How the level of competition is going to be in this year’s Tokyo Olympics?
A - The level of competition is increasing in every edition of Olympics. The track and field events are going to be tough. It is going to be good Olympics.
Q - Your comment on the Muscat Marathon, which broke a participation record this year again?
A - It’s a great event. This year it has grown again from last year. It is a great way to bring the community together from not just Muscat but from the whole of Oman. Now, globally the people are coming in to experience this event. People can combine it with the holiday because it is a very nice event.
Q - Which race did you like the most at the Muscat Marathon?
A - It is very hard to pick one race. I liked the 10k because I also participated in the event, but the kids’ races were also exciting. To see the enthusiasm among kids was very good. Some of them were running for the first time and they were very happy.
