Athletics World ChampionshipsPaula Radcliffe leaves nothing to chance when it comes to marathon preparations yet the feeling in Helsinki is that everything will need to go to plan tomorrow if she's to win the world title she so craves. She's run five minutes and 12 seconds faster than the next best woman in the race this year alone, and if she runs close to her world record of 2:15.25 she's likely to finish even farther ahead.
Except championship marathons show no respect to times. Radcliffe discovered that in Athens last year when Mizuki Noguchi of Japan only needed to run 2:26.20 to win Olympic gold - while the British athlete dropped out with four miles to go.
Less than a year on, Radcliffe's recovery appears complete, but no event throws up more surprises than a championship marathon. Noguchi has bypassed Helsinki and opted for next month's Berlin marathon, yet that doesn't make Radcliffe's task any easier.
There are five other Japanese runners in the field (the race doubles as the World Marathon Cup team race) and any one of them is capable of winning. Harumi Hiroyama is the fastest with her 2:22.56.
Defending champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya also starts, as does the Ethiopian Derartu Tulu.
Radcliffe, now 31, also has to deal with pressure. Not just because of her failure in Athens, but because all of Britain expects and needs her to win gold.
Depending on who you listen to, Radcliffe's ninth-place finish in the 10,000 metres final last Saturday was either a telltale sign of the dangers at hand or else the perfect send-off for victory. Radcliffe is convinced it was the latter: "Yeah, I've no regrets at all about it," she said yesterday after arriving back in Helsinki from the British training camp in Turku. "And I've had no problems after it either. The marathon was always the priority."
She drove over the course last Sunday afternoon and pronounced herself happy - bar some concerns about a few cobbled streets and the few minor inclines. Shortly after 4.30 local time the first woman will enter the old Olympic Stadium, and if everything goes to plan that woman can only be Radcliffe.
