Race Report - London Marathon 2000

16 April 2000

Men's Race

Khalid Khannouchi's prediction that the Flora London Marathon course was worth 2:06 proved correct on Sunday April 16th but, unfortunately for him, the Moroccan world record holder was not the one to do it.

In a race where a large and expensive group of world class runners was content to follow the pacemakers through the halfway point in just under 64 minutes, Antonio Pinto was always conspicuous and seemed the only racer looking for a faster pace. He made a couple of appearances at the head of the field before finally, a positive move during the 18th mile, he opened up a lead that dramatically increased when the Portuguese wine grower drove through 20 miles in 1:36:59 after a 4:32 split. Over the final 6 miles Pinto continued to draw away from defending champion Abdelkader El Mouaziz who, unusually for him, had lurked anonymously in the pack. Khannouchi had been having a bad time but managed to raise himself from 8th to third in the final miles while Pinto headed down The Mall to a new course record of 2:06:36, eclipsing his compatriot Carlos Lopes' European record.

One of the British young pretenders, Mark Steinle, ran at the back of the leading pack through 10km and was over two minutes ahead of the other British Olympic hopefuls at halfway. From there he ran a lonely race, picking off the occasional runner until he came home in 2:11:18, well inside the Olympic qualifying time and fulfilling his earlier prophesy of a 2:10-12 finish. Second Briton, Keith Cullen also dipped under the Olympic time with his debut of 2:13:37 and then said that perhaps he should have gone faster earlier on.

Pinto: I felt very strong, the pacemakers were a little slow for the first half but that left me feeling very strong and I was able to pull away in the 27th and 28th kilometres.

El Mouaziz: I am happy to have beaten my personal record (2:07:33) and with the way I ran but not with the pacemakers, I asked them to go faster.

Khannouchi: My problems (with US citizenship) did not bother me. It was a tough day for me, after 15 miles I felt cold and couldn't respond to the surges. I really fought to come back from eighth - I am happy with it.

Women's Race

Another prediction came true in the Women's Flora London Marathon. Adriana Fernandez had said earlier in the week that, with such a strong field, the race could easily be a tactical one, with everyone watching everyone else... and so it proved.

The pacemakers set off on the requested 71 minute half marathon pace but no one took up the offer and the a gap soon opened. Three miles of the course were covered before the gap started to close, as much from the pacemakers' reluctance to get too far ahead as from any real increase in pace from the pack.

Eventually Kerryn McCann showed at the front and began to experiment with surges. A 5:26 for mile 17 took the Australian McCann, Tegla Loroupe and Lidia Simon away from the rest but slowly the deficit was closed. This pattern continued, with Loroupe and Simon responding to surges from McCann. The changes of pace were to prove McCann's undoing but she was rewarded for her bravery by a person best time of 2:25:59.

In the meantime, Tegla Loroupe - unknown to the others, nursing a hip injury - took control of the race as the leaders crossed the carpeted cobbles at the Tower of London. She drew away with only Lidia Simon for company and they opened a gap on Joyce Chepchumba who had been fighting a sore throat all week. Emerging from the shadows of the Blackfriars underpass with less than three miles to go, it could be seen that Loroupe, the world record holder in mixed races, could very easily do without the aid of male pacemakers.

Loroupe had opened what looked a secure gap on Simon who in turn looked less than secure from the charging Chepchumba. However, the status quo was maintained to the finish line as Loroupe proved she was a great competitor as well as great record setter, winning in 2:24:33 from Simon's 2:24:46 and Chepchumba's 2:24:57.

Loroupe: I tried to close the gap to the pacemakers but nobody was prepared to make a move. We could have run faster if we had the courage not to watch each other. I will run faster next year.

Simon: I am not very happy, I tried to go faster; I wish I had had the courage to run my legs off. I am sorry.

Chepchumba: It was a tactical race; I didn't follow the pacemakers but I was watching the others. I knew about Tegla's injury in Germany.

Wheelchair race

Both favourites were beaten in this year's Flora London Wheelchair Marathon. Tanni Grey-Thompson punctured early and never got back in the race, which should not diminish Sarah Piercy's win, The 19 year old was making her second appearance over 26.2 miles, becoming the first athlete to win a Mini marathon race and go on to victory over the full distance. Her time of 2:23:30 beats her previous best by 25 minutes.

Kevin Papworth was the other surprise winner of the 18th London Wheelchair Marathon when he sprinted away from Ernst Van Dyk (RSA) in the finishing straight. Four-time winner, David Holding was dropped early and had to call upon all his sprinting powers to hold off Tushar Patel and David Weir - both graduates from the Wheelchair Mini Marathon - for third place.