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| This eclectic bunch fancied a nice quiet run through London today |
Today, I took to the streets of central London to witness that most gruelling and honourable of sports, the marathon. The women were in action today, a week prior to the men, and they were greeted by hordes of people lining the streets and a rainstorm of epic proportions hammering down from the sky for the first half hour of the race. With Great Britain's most well known marathon runner Paula Radcliffe ruled out through injury, it was left to 29-year-old Claire Hallissey, Mara Yamauchi (from Oxford but married to a Japanese man) and late call-up Freya Murray to fly the flag for Team GB. However, the business-end of the race was a story of African rivalry as pre-race favourite Mary Keitany of Kenya just missed out on the podium in fourth position as Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia set a new Olympic record. Keitany's misery was compounded further as compatriot Priscah Jeptoo and Russian Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova both finished ahead of her.
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| Radcliffe's replacement Freya Murray (right) did best out of Britain's representatives |
Gelana's Olympic record of 2 hours 23 minutes 7 seconds is nearly eight minutes worse off than Radcliffe's world record of 2 hours 15 minutes 25 seconds which was set back in 2003's London Marathon. This makes it even more of a shame that the 38-year-old couldn't compete in what would surely have been one of her final appearances on the world stage. The osteoarthritis which has afflicted her left foot ended the hopes of filling the one big void on her running CV, an Olympic medal. Having come 5th in the 5,000m at Atlanta 1996 and 4th in the 10,000m at Sydney 2000, Radcliffe didn't finish at Athens 2004's marathon, and only could manage 23rd at Beijing. Her world record still stands and will take some beating but the opportunity to impress in her home country would have been a fantastic way to mark a magnificent career.
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| Hallissey survived the stares of the small children to finish 57th |
Without Radcliffe gracing the streets around St. Paul's, her direct replacement Freya Murray did the best out of the Brits, finishing 44th out of 118 entrants, nine minutes behind the victor. Hallissey finished 57th, a further three minutes back. Unfortunately for Yamauchi, another veteran at 38, she was forced to withdraw just under the 10km mark with an existing heel injury which had got the better of her. But the encouraging cheers of the London crowd and the incredible effort put in by all participants ensured the event stayed true to the spirit of the Olympic Games. A completely different story to Saturday night's heroics where Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah in particular starred as Great Britain took the Olympic Stadium by storm, it was possible to find fairy stories within the women's marathon.
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| The diminutive Napoleao won the crowd over and achieved a personal best |
One of the best was that of Juventina Napoleao. The miniscule 23-year-old from the tiny country of East Timor (aka Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste) was bringing up the rear for much of the race, and therefore became something of a cult hero with the crowd, receiving rapturous cheers every time she went past, clearly giving it her all. As she continued, several others pulled out of the race injured and Ireland's Caitriona Jennings was caught and overhauled. Not only did Napoleao finish ahead of Jennings but she recorded a personal best of 3 hours 5 minutes and 7 seconds. As Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern OIympics said, 'the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part, the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.' Gelana rightfully deserves the plaudits and praise for her gold medal and Olympic record, but Napoleao, as much as anybody showed that while she might not win, she can certainly fight well.
Congratulations must go to all this weekend's Olympic gold medallists, particularly Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah, Greg Rutherford and Andy Murray. Inspirational stuff from Great Britain's finest. The Search for Excellence will continue tomorrow as the Olympics heads into it's final week. And of course don't forget to follow James on Twitter @TSFE2012
Photographs by sports fan Helen Crane
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