As I understand it whenever pacers are "allowed" in races, they are allowed as long as the pacers are also eligible to win the race if he/she so chooses (and is capable of doing so).
Unlike Chicago last Oct or the Tegla Loroupe WR marathons, the male 'escorts' at London will, of course, not be eligible to win the men's race, as they'll be running in a sepearte distinct women's race. But Radcliffe (and TV) are running the show so applying the rules will probably be regarded by the general public as so much nitpicking. -----Original Message----- From: e. garry hill [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 9:59 AM To: track list Subject: Re: t-and-f: male pacemakers for Radcliffe at London While the IAAF's "no mixed competition" rule is silly, and I oppose it, I can see where they'd have a case for applying it to this kind of "competition." gh > From: "Post, Marty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: "Post, Marty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2003 09:16:04 -0500 > To: "'[EMAIL PROTECTED] uoregon. edu' (E-mail)"<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: t-and-f: male pacemakers for Radcliffe at London > >> From Michael Butcher, Head of Press > > (They better hire some Kenyans...) > > THE FLORA LONDON MARATHON > APRIL13 2003 > MALE PACEMAKERS FOR WOMEN'S RACE > For immediate release Wednesday March 5 2003 > Following a request from Paula Radcliffe for a mixed Men and Women's race, > the Flora London Marathon today announced a unique solution. The Men's and > Women's races will remain separate but there will be male pacemakers for the > Women. > The decision was ratified by the Marathon Directors who met this morning to > discuss the proposal. > "We already have the Women's Only World Record," explained Race Director > David Bedford, "and knowing Paula is in the shape of her life we realised > there was a good chance that we could capture the Mixed Race record as > well." > In London last year Radcliffe sped to the fastest ever debut of 2:18:56 > before demolishing the Mixed Race record in Chicago with 2:17:18. Last month > she sliced eight seconds off the World 10km road record in Puerto Rico. > "I'm really pleased that London has taken this step," commented Radcliffe. > "It is obviously very difficult to find pacemakers who can go fast enough > for me so this arrangement will help me discover my true worth over the > distance." > After consultation with the other elite women, the majority were in > agreement with male pacemakers. The Marathon will now be seeking a selection > of men who will cover the pace between 2:15 - 2:24. > For further information call the Flora London Marathon Press Office Michael > Butcher 0207 902 0187 Mark Warne 0207 902 0199 > Michael Butcher > Head of Press > The Flora London Marathon > 0207 902 0187 > 07801 826 593 >
