Jo Pavey is hoping she can use tomorrow’s BUPA Great North run as a “stepping stone” on her way to next summer’s London 2012 Olympic games, where she will be competing in the Marathon.
Pavey is, so far, the only British runner to have achieved the qualifying time for the Marathon at next summer’s Olympics.
Pavey, who only made the step up to the full marathon distance two years ago is expected to be Britain’s best hope of a podium finish at tomorrow’s event, after finishing third three years ago.
The 37 year old, who missed last month’s World Championships through injury believes that the Great North run is a huge race for her as she tries to gain some top level competition experience before London 2012, where she is determined to perform well.
“I was absolutely relieved to get the qualifying time in the London Marathon,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean I’ve definitely made the team for the Olympics and it’s important to keep showing what I can do.
“We have some marvellous marathon runners in the UK – people like Mara (Yamauchi), Paula (Radcliffe) and Louise (Damen) – and we all want to be competing at London so that keeps us motivated.
“I’m still a bit of a novice when it comes to marathon running. I’ve only just turned my attention to trying to run a marathon, and it’s very different to running on the track.
“There’s definitely a mental aspect to it. When you watch marathon runners on the TV, it looks as though they’re really relaxed. But a lot of the time, you’re running under a lot of distress.
“It’s about how you deal with that distress over the course of 26 miles. It’s a mental challenge to try to stay relaxed and deal with the exertion that you’re putting in.”
“I was absolutely relieved to get the qualifying time in the London Marathon,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean I’ve definitely made the team for the Olympics and it’s important to keep showing what I can do.
“We have some marvellous marathon runners in the UK – people like Mara (Yamauchi), Paula (Radcliffe) and Louise (Damen) – and we all want to be competing at London so that keeps us motivated.
“I’m still a bit of a novice when it comes to marathon running. I’ve only just turned my attention to trying to run a marathon, and it’s very different to running on the track.
“There’s definitely a mental aspect to it. When you watch marathon runners on the TV, it looks as though they’re really relaxed. But a lot of the time, you’re running under a lot of distress.
“It’s about how you deal with that distress over the course of 26 miles. It’s a mental challenge to try to stay relaxed and deal with the exertion that you’re putting in.”
Last year’s winner Berhane Adere is back to try and retain her title, and will be vying to prevent Pavey from winning the Great North Run tomorrow, while 2009 winner Jessica Augusto is competing again for the first time since winning the race.
There is also a strong Kenyan contingent headed by Irene Jerotich and Irene Mogake, who took the gold and silver medals at last year’s Commonwealth Games marathon in Delhi.
Emmanuel Mutai is expected to perform well in the men’s race, after winning the London Marathon in April.
Mutai’s task became a little easier yesterday when fellow Kenyan Martin Lel was forced to pull out because of illness.
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