Day 1, Part 3 Athletics: World Championships

World Championships, live from Roscoe. -- Moscow. The Kremlin

looking resplendent, the women's marathon runners are in the early

stages, running through this very welcome missed that has been

provided to try and call them down on a very hot afternoon -- mist. It

is a course which will not exactly inspire them to run QuickTime is

under the conditions are not going to help that at all. It is a warm,

humid afternoon in Moscow and this world championship marathon, with

Straneo of Italy leading it, and the main contenders in a big group back

there, starting to break up a little bit in these early stages. The

Olympic champion is in that group and Kiplagat, the defending world

champion, as well. Brendan Foster and Paula Radcliffe are alongside me

and we made the point, Brendan, that these aren't really good

conditions, but interesting that a solid pace has been set at this

early stage despite the heat. looks like a solid pace and you're

absolutely right, this afternoon the temperatures are predicted to go

over 30 degrees. It is two o'clock in the afternoon, you can see by the

shadows that the sun is almost directly overhead but the

interesting thing is that these athletes were not happy when they

found out it was a 2pm start and when they saw the weather forecast,

they were even more dismayed. Some of them feel they have been shown a

lack of respect but there are some demands from television,

particularly in Japan. But the Olympic champion from 2004, isn't

running here today, when she won the Olympic Games, massive audiences in

Japan were gathered, and you can perfectly understand why they want

to show off their best athlete. So a little bit understandable, but a bit

unfortunate for these athletes. I don't think they are very happy

about it at all, but they are getting on with the job and the

pace, I would have guessed early on, they would have set off really

slowly, but they have actually begun at a reasonable pace. We will give

the split times around the 5,000 metre point, the information will be

coming from the side of the course. But 30 years on from Greta Weiss

winning the first world championship in 1983, 30 years ago, the pioneer

of women's distance running and these athletes are following in the

footsteps of the first-ever world marathon champion, who died three

years ago of cancer. I was speaking to her husband Jack earlier and he

was saying that her foundation has now raised �7 million to build

activity centres in cancer hospitals all around Norway, that is going

really well, and they are saying that exercise is really helpful in

treatment, and that was the great legacy she left behind. Really,

Paula, it has changed a lot. Imagine if the only distance you could have

run was 1500m. I wouldn't have been very good at all, I might have stuck

with the judo. I think I would have tried to have raced 1500m but I

wouldn't have been quiet about lobbying for women to run further,

because there is no reason why we shouldn't and in fact, women's

endurance is probably stronger than men's if you go really long. So

there is no reason that women cannot run really well and running

conditions like this. We can see there, one technical point to tell

you, the yellow line replaces the blue line, marking the shortest

point on the course and sometimes it is very close to the curb and very

difficult to run. You can see that Yaguchi is trying to run around the

others. -- Noguchi. And we have seen the Ethiopian trio being

instrumental in closing the gap up and making it more of a one pack

race. You just said women can go further than men, can you expand on

that point? Women are stronger, aren't they, in the long run?

on, you too. I want to talk about this monument, this is a monument to

Peter the Great, theoretically. It has been voted in the top ten

ugliest in the world. And apparently, the guy who made it, it

was originally Christopher Columbus and some town or city in America

pulled out and he chopped the head off and put the head of Peter the

Great on it and the Mayorova Moscow thought it was brilliant. We have a

casualty already in the marathon, we will try and let you know who that

is. Anyway, I will come back to that maybe later on, because we need lots

to talk about on the course, but it is interesting because you run past

it and you think, what on earth is that? 17: 06 for the first part,

that is pretty low, setting out with real intent. And you can see that

what it has meant is Straneo is a really experienced runner, but the

Ethiopians have got in there. Kiplagat is the only one who has

really sat off, the defending champion, and that might not be a

bad move. She has not sat off too far, she is certainly within

covering distance, but she seems to be letting them get on with it.

Here, we see the athlete either slip or be pushed. Then her team-mate has

actually gone to see if she is OKed. I am not sure what happened, it is

very early in the race for it to be any kind of dehydration or fatigue,

so it is more likely she tripped on something or was pushed. I think it

was one of the Namibian athletes. We will try and give you an update on

that, if we get any news on the course. In terms of the all blue, it

certainly looked like the Namibian strip. I will check on that. It

might have been Naigambo. This is the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour,

one of the reconstructed religious buildings that was destroyed under

the communist regime and was rebuilt. You would think it had been

there for a couple of hundred years but it has not been. 1 million

people in Moscow in the 1990s contributed to the fund to rebuild,

in fine style as well. It certainly looks as though it was never... It

was actually blown up and a lot of the white marble, and some of the

Underground stations here are quite spectacular, and some... It is quite

disorientating, isn't it? Yes, we got lost. And a lot of the buildings

that were blown up got used to make some of the underground stations,

and they ask quite spectacular. -- they are quite spectacular. And they

will turn around now for the first time just beyond the Cathedral.

Straneo is not letting up here, and I think one or two others, if you

have joined that group, and you would think Melkamu, she doesn't

have a lot of marathon experience, but she has won a lot of races in

hot weather, they are following the Italian so far. Melkamu has a vast

amount of experience, something like 70 medals at the world cross-country

championships, so certainly she is used to covering moves -- 17

medals. She is new to the marathon, so probably not used to sitting back

and letting people push on in the early stages and letting them get in

the way -- getaway, the cross-country mentality is to move

up there. She looks to me as if she is not in the best shape coming into

this, certainly as she would have been a few years ago but she is

putting yourself in the right place and making sure her team-mates have

stayed with her. The long straight here, you can see everything that is

going on, they are coming to the turn, they are able to look across

and see exactly what is going on around them. You begin to get a

feel. That looked to me like the Olympic champion, way down the field

and not looking as though she is going at all well. Sonia Samuels is

way down the field. You can tell the athletes have run just over five

kilometres. Already some of them are looking a little bit tired and to be

honest, this is going to be a long, gruelling afternoon. It is getting

warmer and as they go further and as they keep going at this pace that

has been set by Straneo Italy, things are going to change and

things are going to happen, but I noticed Gelano was way off the lead.

She was run into by wheelchair in London and took the month of

training and has only got into training in the last four weeks. She

came because there is a strong Ethiopian team come which is at the

front, but does not include the Olympic champion, which is the first

shock of the race, unless she is calculating and working it out, but

you would wonder about that. She has had a rough year, and today we will

find out if she is back to shape. I'm going to throw something out.

The defending champion, the world champion and the Olympic champion

are running together, 13 or 14 seconds behind this quite quick

early pace. You wouldn't expect that and you can see as they go down the

list, they will, on the third page, but they are maybe just playing a

smart game here, maybe Kiplagat and Gelano know what is going on and

they say they are going too fast, too soon and they are going to sit

back. That is an interesting point, but you know, Gelano has run eight

or nine marathons, so she has got experience. Kiplagat is the world

champion, so she has plenty of experience. Straneo is really

setting a decent pace and a bunch of the top athletes have gone with

them. 14 seconds, you would wonder why they would let them go 14

seconds. But they are going to work out the conditions as they are

today, they will work on that, and you may think there is safety in

numbers and if you are running next to the world champion, and the

Olympic champion together, at least you're going to get the confidence

that you are doing something right, so you could be right. Just to bring

you up to date, we are checking and we have a computer that tells us,

they are wearing chips, and I think it was Naigambo, she hasn't got

through the five K point. She was in real distress. Sonia Samuels just

ahead of Susan Partridge, around 35 seconds behind. Sonia is 30 Ninth

Place, Susan 43rd. -- 39th place. Already some intrigue in this race,

the world and Olympic champions sitting off what is a steady pace

given the conditions being set by the Italian. The other Ethiopians

and Kenyans are in there. Noguchi is in there, the former Olympic

champion. So interesting decisions are being taken, interesting tactics

already coming to the fore, already at this early stage. Straneo has led

this from the beginning and she has obviously come here with a plan in

mind. 37 years of age, we have seen other older athletes do this sort of

thing, of course the Olympics in 2008. The winner was 38. Age is not

such a barrier in the women's marathon, but that group is pulling

quite a way ahead. If you look at the cadence of these athletes, the

positioning, you wouldn't think that they were running and had another

two hours ahead of them. They look almost as though they are racing. If

you took a snapshot of this, you would think it was a ten mile race

or a half marathon. It is a bit too competitive early on Ferrera race

being run in such oppressive conditions and with the talent in

the race and we know things will dramatically change over the next

two hours. Melkamu is the second fastest 10,000m runner ever and she

has been a talent over many distances. She has never been the

best in the world at any distance and is trying the marathon. Her run

for the 10,000m, there is only yourself, Paula, to run the marathon

at that kind of pace and ability. She is very much, I would say, the

ten K calibre athlete in the field today. In terms of experienced

marathon runners in that pack, there is probably Noguchi and Straneo,

they would be the two that are really experienced and have run a

lot in these kind of conditions and know how to pace themselves. It puts

you in a difficult position because I personally would not be happy

allowing that much of a gap, but if you are very confident that they

cannot maintain that pace, you had to choose the middle ground and

cover close enough to be able to close the gap if they start to die,

and if they don't and are moving away, you need to work hard to get

back to them. We will pan back there from the massive, modern city of

Moscow, lots of buildings being put up recently, changing face of

Moscow. But the Moscow River, as they run alongside, you would hope

there is a little bit of relief and a bit of a breeze, and these

athletes are strung out in this race. If you look at that group

there, there is some talent in there, but there is some talent on

the road further along to. About two hours of running left. The heat is

increasing. And the pace is running aggressively, for my money.

next group going through has Deena Kastor, the Olympic medallist in

2004 coming right past the camera. She is a very experienced American,

a veteran. This is the interesting bit now. Kiplagat, who might just

be starting thinking about pushing on. I am just looking for Tiki

Gelana. Kipper go -- Kiplagat is think about pushing on but where is

Tiki Gelana? I think Tiki Gelana is in trouble here. I would not let

this much of a gap opened up on the lead group. Even if you think they

are going too fast and they can't maintain net. That Lithuanian won

the European Championships in 2010 and then failed a drug test so this

is her first trip back. I can only imagine Tiki Gelana has not

recovered from her for in London and the damage to ankle. The

Kenyans have a lot of choice about whether they can come and racier

but the Ethiopian still not know -- do not have so much choice. Why

would she come if she was injured? It could be because she does not

have too much choice Auric could be something that has happened in the

race so far with Valerie Straneo not relenting a tall. She is just

looking at her watch and wondering what case she is on. They have just

gone past at km mark. Lucy Kabuu 0 and young Valentine Kipketer, after

her horrendous journey to come here, is in the lead pack. They are

stretched out. This is not their lead pack that is comfortably

running together. They are stretched out. There is Mizuki

Noguchi. And there is the Turkish record holder looking as though she

is struggling already. Some of the other Ethiopians are disappearing

off the lead pack. Valerie Straneo, whatever damage she is doing to

herself, she is certainly cutting it up in the lead group and making

a really hard and we are not at the 10 km point yet. One thing you can

say about Valerie Straneo is that she is very good at coming back

from adversity. She had a big operation to remove her spleen and

gall bladder but says that she does feel 100 times better after having

it removed and it seems to show in her running here today. That little

group there is being read -- led by the best chance of for the Russians.

Kiplagat is moving through there. She has decided it is too much of a

gap and she is trying to close up on Deena Kastor. It is hard to

close the gap when they are moving at a pace ahead of you. You have to

pick your time. You have to get into the right pace. If the pace

effect at the front you have to at least compete with that pace.

Obviously you will assume that some of them are going to come back to

you and you will pick up as you go through the race so let us wait and

fit. Edna Kiplagat could be playing a good game here. A if you look at

the positions now and make a note of them, the difference between the

positions now and there positions at the finish of this race will be

staggering. Some will come from behind and some from this pack will

disappear or even drop out. There is a bunch of athletes there,

including Melkamu, who is keen to be competitive, it is being run

strangely because normally this kind of group would stay together

for at least the halfway point or maybe a later stage. Here we after

33 minutes of running and they are already being competitive. It is

very interesting to look at Mizuki Noguchi who is running between for

a yellow line that marks the short is part of the course and the white

line at the edge of the road. Strictly speaking you are not --

strictly speaking you're not supposed to do that. You can his

athletes, they are moving along nicely together in a competitive

race that has drama ahead of it. They are turning and heading back

down the road. They will start to look across and calculate who is

not in the group that I was worried about. Who are the dangers? Where

are the dangers coming from? That is a small but select lead grew.

Mizuki Noguchi, the former Olympic champion at the 10 km point, that

is a pretty steady 10 km. It is around 2.24 pace for the marathon

so they are on her a decent pace. Information will start to come in

and we will start to get information that will tell us

exactly what is happening right down the field. We are interested

in the Olympic champion, Tiki Gelana, from Ethiopia. We are also

interested in Kiplagat. She seems to be judging it. She is 13 seconds

behind the leader. That is about the same as it was before and she

has the confidence of big-time performance. She also knows what it

is like to run in a championship. The athletes are checking the times

and checking their split than getting the information that they

need. We are still looking for the Olympic champion. You are right,

Kiplagat has picked a Perth pace but I think the pace at the front

has picked up as well so the gap stays the same. We will just

watched his see as many of these athletes coming through as possible.

We are watching for Susan sat -- Susan Partridge and Sonia Samuels,

the British athletes. Tiki Gelana, we have not seen her at all just

recently. All the report, I was chatting to one of the journalists

who is close to the Ethiopian team who was telling me that Tiki Gelana

was the big favourites and we should expect a big performance

from her. There is Sonia Samuels. She is running a pretty solid pace

at this point. I know that Paula was watching her now and she did

some really good sessions and she did a great qualifying time in

Berlin last year and her husband that she is in great shape and

better prepared to. It is really a question of what will happen in

these conditions. You can never quite tell. You can stand at the

start line with the best training you have ever done and if you judge

it a bit wrong it can go pear- shaped. But she should get a good

performance out of this today and there will will be -- there will be

plenty of casualties ahead of her. There are only decent -- there are

only five decent female distance runners. They have got an

opportunity to prepare for this event and they knew the pitfalls

that were ahead and they knew the preparation they needed. It is a

great opportunity for an athlete and hopefully Sonia Samuels and

Susan Partridge will acquit themselves well and move on from

here because next year, Commonwealth Games, European

Championships, Susan Partridge will be drawn to the Commonwealth Games

in Glasgow with of the marathon in Glasgow. You would like to bet that

that will be slightly cooler! be a little bit. I will keep an eye

on the athletes going through the split but our computer has gone

down as far as 25th place at 10 km and it does not quite have the 10 K

for everybody yet. As soon as it update itself we will have a better

indication of who is still out did run a personal best for 10 km

on the road in in the race in Maine last week, she was racing fast

coming into the championships and she was in very good form and

looking forward to hopefully a top- five finish here today but she has

had difficulty holding on to Edna Kiplagat as she has come past her.

For me now, Edna Kiplagat is definitely trying to close the gap

and move forward towards the Leeds pack, but not too much. The trick

is not to put too much effort in and close the gap too fast. She has

a long way to go and she can afford to do a very gradually. It is an

advantage when they have the turn around. When they can see the state

of play ahead of them and look across and they are also very

trusting here. There are just a few cones in the middle of the road to

stop someone cutting out the corner at the end! Are, now we know how

you think. That was a terrible suggestion from a world record

holder! Her I wasn't suggesting it, I was suggesting I would watch and

others who were doing it! They are loving rabbit with a shower. I bet

they could do with a few more of those. -- they are loving that bit.

I think Kiplagat is playing a canny game. Tiki Gelana is a long way

behind the so obviously there is something wrong with her. Susan

Partridge has just gone past her. Paula was right, the Ethiopians

have no choice. They basically say, you have to come here. The Kenyans

pick 10 or 12 people and ask them if they would like to run. Some of

them have decided to come. This is a look at the current standings.

That is the lead group which is being broken up. Mizuki Noguchi is

at the back of that group and a few seconds adrift now. Deena Kastor is

going backwards but Kiplagat is moving up through the field and

Albina Mayorova is also moving up through. Sonia Samuels is the lead

British athlete and in the 34th position. She is about right given

the conditions. It looks as though there is some cloud out there at

the moment and the sun is not shining as brightly. That is

probably the second-string Russian coming into this, Tatyana Aryasova

or. She was following right behind Albina Mayorova or so I do not know

what is happening there. Albina Mayorova was in front of her and

closing the gap. This is the first time for a while that we have seen

them close up a bit. It looks as though the pace is just cloak --

slowing a little bit. Whenever you see that happening, they were just

stretched out before, the Ethiopians are in there. Melkamu is

at the front, where she likes to be. Valeria Straneo is also leading. On

his lap they will continue further up the river. They turned last time

at the cathedral and this time they will continue right onto the walls

of the Kremlin. We might get a view of that here and there is one view

-- there is one bend where you cannot see the whole stretch ahead

of you. When they go past backbench you can see the dome of the

cathedral in the distance and then they go on another km or so before

turning. I think they are all now just taking their time to look

around and assess who else is in the group and even twist right

around to see how big the gap is behind them. They will have got

some information at the turning point and they will get information

from the team coach that is allowed to be at the drinks station and

handing the drinks out to them and tell them about that than things

like that. I am just wondering what the sticking-plaster over the belly

button of the Chinese athlete is and whether that is a technique for

to keep cool or just summit to stop the number running. That can be a

problem if the number is quite sharp. If you are wearing a crop

top it can cut the stomach can stink as you start to sweat.

might be something to do if you haven't in the or an out one.

you care? No! This is the defending world champion who was moving

really quickly. In looks as though she is putting some pressure on

herself to get to this group. Moving nicely and having a little

look around there. Edna Kiplagat and that is Mizuki Noguchi, the

former Olympic champion that she is just passing. Mizuki Noguchi was in

8th place but she has just dropped off the back of the group. Edna

Kiplagat is giving chase. Valeria Straneo continues to set the pace.

The Kenyan world champion knows that her two team-mates are in this

group, the talented youngster, Valentin CAT glitter -- Valentine

Kipketer who has improved a lot. She ran the fastest marathon ever

because Columbus had three ships. You have just read the book which

tells you the names of the ships and you are going to ask us and make us

look foolish. Tell us the names. Santa Maria. Correct.You are next.

The Pinto. And I can't remember the other one. One thing I am worried

about, normally the lead car leaves the runners in front. At the moment,

there is a car right behind the runners. I don't know if they know

that Kiplagat is closing as fast as she is. It is not comfortable for

her because she will be breathing in the fumes from that car and not

particularly happy, but I am not sure if there is a point where he

can get past those girls, unless they move the cones. She is I would

suggest, within seven or eight seconds, not 13 or 14, as they come

around this bend, the only one on the course. Tadese slowing, it is

just the water station. At the last World Championships, we saw the

Kenyan is trip each other up, it was Kiplagat, she got tripped by a

team-mate -- the Kenyans. No issues there. Fukushi of Japan, the flags

denoting which bottle it is, as Noguchi is taking hers. She has been

passed by her team-mate. And look at Edna Kiplagat, she is pretty much on

the back of that group, she has gone past the car. Yes, and passed both

Japanese athletes. They have thrown those bottles away but I was going

to say, the difference between the preparation of the Japanese athletes

and some of the others. You see the Ethiopian girls come in and they

pick up a regular bottles that were not particularly well marked. The

Japanese coming and they have big hoops around the top of the bottle

so they can slide their romp through and take the bottle with them,

extremely bright colours, so they can pick it out -- slide their arms

through. In conditions like this they would usually run with them

through a lot further, to take in a fluid on board, but they did throw

them away quite quickly. Straneo still has hers. You can run with

them as long as you want, there is not a zone where you have to throw

your bottle and today, early on in the race with a day like today, I

would hold on for as long as possible, just to put small sips

into my body. That group has just broken up a little bit. Kiplagat has

joined them but Straneo has again put her foot down. That quiz

question, the answer has come in. Venina, was the third of them. I got

two out of three. You have them written down in front of you, I'm

happy you got two out of three! But you are right, Kiplagat joining the

Kenyan athletes. Lucy Kabuu, Kipketer and Kiplagat in the group.

Two Ethiopians in the group, Tadese and Melkamu. Fukushi of Japan in

that trailing group and the long-time leader, Straneo of Italy,

in that group, that is the leading group. There is some championship

talent in there, some athletes who have one big races in there. Then

the road to me you consider Bangkok cameramen getting the photographs.

The one they really want is when these athletes enter Red Square, the

centre of Moscow. St Basil's Cathedral, you can see the shining

spires, on the edge of Red Square. You consider red walls of the

Kremlin. And these athletes are now heading there for the first time, 48

minutes of running behind them and already we have seen a dramatic

event here. We have seen big athletes, big reputations and big

titles, not able to compete, even in the first half an hour of this

event. The temperature is still rising and the athletes are

contending with tough conditions and a course which, I think Paula said,

was uninspiring. I think that is right. You also said the Kremlin

wasn't very interesting, didn't you? No, I didn't, I said that was the

interesting part of it! It is great if you ever get the chance, I don't

know if you have, but I have done it on this trip and on previous trips,

it is a good couple of hours. It used to strike fear into many parts

of the world and was the symbol of a great superpower. We were in there

the other day and about as dangerous as it gets is a policeman blows the

whistle at you if you walk across the road in the wrong place inside

the Kremlin. And beautiful shots of St Basil's Cathedral. That is just

outside the Kremlin. What I think people don't realise is that the

palaces and the churches were built inside. This was the home, on the

Tsars -- of the Tsars. And St Basil's, the multicoloured Cathedral

which we will see shortly, just sits outside those walls. Looking at that

group of athletes, this now looks like a marathon race from the

outside. They have settled then, they are running steadily in groups.

The early part looks like a 10K race or a half marathon. Now they are

settling down, running strongly and as you would expect them to do in a

marathon, and that is wise. They are coming up to an hour's running

behind them, soon coming to the halfway point, so the race is now

beginning for real. It has been an interesting progress of art from the

defending champion -- so far from the defending champion, Kiplagat,

who let them set off and do what they wanted to do and has now joined

the group and her Kenyan team-mate, so they look like they will feature

in this event. And the Ethiopians, headed by Melkamu, an interesting

athlete from every perspective. That is the leading group of eight

athletes, lead as they have been from the start by Valeria Straneo

Italy. And we have to hand it to her, she has come here with the

plan, she has not been fazed by the conditions. Going past the 15km

point. She has stuck to it and it is a brave plan. She will be aware of

who is with her. Here they are at the bottom end of what is Red

Square. St Basil's you can see it in the background. Some big crowds here

finally, people out watching this marathon, as they take the turn

through the 15km point. Straneo still leading and three Kenyans in

that group, who are capable perhaps doing what they did in 2011, where

it was a Kenyan one, two, three. Noguchi and Kizaki going through as

well, that is three Japanese in the top ten. And Ethiopia, their big

hope, their big challenge, would have been Dickie Gelano, they

thought, but this is not to be heard they -- Tiki Gelano. That would be a

massive surprise, to her team-mates as much as anyone else. The

Ethiopians always look to their strong runners to inspire the others

and when they see their big name not doing well, they may be affected.

Deena Kastor just going through 15 kilometres. 16th century, St

Basil's Brendan. Ivan the Terrible commissioned it, incidentally, as I

continue my travails through the history of Moscow. It is a beautiful

building, no longer a consecrated church, it is now a museum. But it

is, of course, one of the iconic views of Moscow. So Straneo, Paula,

what do you reckon? Are we doing her a disservice? Is this sort of

tactic, keeping this pressure on when you have so many good people in

the group, are we doing her a disservice and issue running a smart

race? We will see as the race goes on, but she is certainly committed

to it and believes she can run it like this and is attacking it. She

is reminding me a little bit of Constantine -- Constantina Dita and

how she would race in championships. She would attack early on and

sometimes she would die and sometimes she would maintain it.

Straneo is not an athlete you can just write off the bat says she will

not be able to maintain it coming you have to make that decision to

cover it, but it may be suicide, she may not be able to maintain it. One

athlete we have not spoken a huge amount about is Fukushi of Japan.

She has a history of attacking it too hard in the first part of

marathons and not being able to finish, or blowing up very badly.

She is caught a little bit, she doesn't have a huge amount of

experience over the marathon so as to make a decision of whether to go

with the lead pack or not and she will be hoping that they can

maintain it in these conditions and it won't have been too much too soon

for all of them. Not surprisingly, every opportunity they are taking on

not only every opportunity for the feed station but also the water

bottles, cooling themselves then, taking drinks. The heat is really

getting to them because they are really frantic when it comes to any

opportunity of taking on water. Like you said earlier, Paula, they are

drinking a bit of it and throwing it away. You would have thought they

would have been a bit more keen to just hold onto it and use the

opportunity to call themselves down just for a few more kilometres. But

they know what they are doing. Straneo was eighth in the Olympic

Games last year in London, she ran really well bad day and she is

experienced enough. -- that day. She beat the Italian record last year,

so she knows what she is doing. She has been leading from the start, she

has some talent with her from Ethiopia and Kenya. She has Jia are

China, Fukushi a bit further back. The medals will come from that group

of eight but someone will emerge from the group who are not too far

behind. Straneo is leading, then. We haven't really talked about Chinese

athletes Jia and being. -- Ding. Two of them ran in the Chinese trials

and finished first and second. Ding has only run 2:30, it is only her

fourth marathon, it is a high-risk strategy. Jia, she is back in the

pack, she was keen to follow Straneo and is now realising, hang on, I am

operating beyond what I should be capable of. Plenty of shots of the

Olympic champion, I suggest for those watching a few hours to the

east of us in Japan. The rumour is that this race is this time of the

day because they are such a big marathon running country that they

requested it and they will be delighted with Fukushi being in this

leading group. Noguchi is a little bit further back. But Kiplagat, to

me, looking comfortable, but so is this youngster, Kipketer. If you

weren't with us earlier, just to tell us the story again. The Kenyan

team had a disjointed journey ad, you may have read, and lack of fuel

at Nairobi airport and she was left at the Hotel in Tuesday, -- on

Tuesday, they thought she was on the flight but she wasn't and she could

not get out because of the fire at Nairobi airport and had a convoluted

journey through Uganda, through Amsterdam and eventually to Moscow

and only arrived about 36 hours ago and she is in the leading group,

with Kiplagat and Lucy Kabuu, the three Kenyans in this league group.

-- leading group. Susan Partridge and Sonia Samuels are still going

well. They are about three seconds apart. Sonia certainly started more

quickly, Susan is just three seconds behind her. Sonia is 29th, Susan is

33rd. They are moving through the field. But it may well be that that

is going to be a British jewel going on. Susan started the more slowly,

but close together at this point. can see Jia is now paying the price

were trying to cover that small injection of pace that Straneo

putting. Edna Kiplagat took her time when that happened, moved out wide

and assessed whether she was going to close up or not and decided that

she was and the rest of the group seemed to follow her in doing that.

It is the first of the Spanish first of the Spanish athletes.

Spanish athlete is just outside the top 10 at the 15km point. We're

just trying to see what has happened to Ryoko Kikzaki who had

moved up. There were three Japanese athletes in that top 10. This group

Orrell little more tightly packed. Valeria Straneo has been there

right from the beginning. Lucy Kabuu, Valentine Kipketer, Edna

Kiplagat. They have all been training together. They were in the

Kenyan camp for the last few days before they left. The men's

marathon team are still yet to travel. Everything that happened

last week with of the issues at Nairobi airport means it has been a

difficult week for the Kenyan team management. Actually, we saw a

couple of their 800m runners not perform very well this morning.

Certainly one of them. You're never quite sure with the Ethiopian, they

take the athletes away and get them into account and put them -- take

them off the circuit. When you look at the likes of Lucy Kabuu and Edna

Kiplagat, they are up so much experience on the world circuit for

hopefully they have their planning right and so far, so good for them.

Valeria Straneo has a very economic will style with very little me a

lift. We had a clip from a man from 1983 his feet only seemed to come

up couple of inches. A running styles are part and parcel. Some

marathon runners really have that technique and its style and some

athletes have a more springing style. You're never sure if they're

going to translate their distance running performances to the track.

Some can and some cannot. I remember Haile Gebrselassie telling

me when he became the world record holder for the marathon after being

the world record holder for 10,000m and is said it took him two years

anti had to go into a gym and trade on a treadmill and here to look at

himself in a mirror and he determined that his style was too

bouncy and he had to flatten it a bit so he did not spring up off the

ground so much because it is hard to sustain for 26 miles. He said it

took a long time, like learning a new technique. It worked pretty

well for him because he became the world record holder for the

marathon so some athletes can do it but you have got to be an

economical in the marathon. Some coaches said about some distance

runners that were going to move up to the marathon that they could not

do it because there are styles would not allow them to and you can

understand that. We are watching Ryoko Kikzaki who seems to be going

past Jia. What about that, Paula? Is that a marathon running action?

That is a really good question about Mo Farah. His appearance on

the track is an not about whether he should run a marathon or whether

he would be good at it, the question is that he is so good at

the distance is that he does do at the moment and he has demonstrated

how quickly he can do 1,500m and I know he wants to run the marathon

because the London Marathon is a huge attraction and he would

desperately want to do it but I would be looking at the timetable

and thinking, hang on a minute, I am not sure you want to do it yet

because it is different and Paula knows as well as anybody, it is

different from the 10,000m and 5,000m but I would suggest that if

he can run three point to wait for the 1,500m, why bother running 26

miles? Well, I think the point is that he wants to. Maybe that is the

way to go. When I made the decision whether to move to the marathon or

not, might be thinking point was that I have to feel like I really

want to do it, not just to be told that I could physiologically be

good at it or be frustrated because I did not get medals on the track.

I have to feel that I am ready to attack it because the distance has

to be respected and you have to be ready to go in and fully commit to

it. I think we know does really want to do that as he have to think

about whether his style is suited to it because he have a long and

loping style whereas a lot of the marathon runners have more of a

shuffle and more of a faster cadence with less than the left. He

would maybe have to work on that a little bit and maybe he is, without

the 1,500m times that he has shown, more of a 1,500m runner with a half

marathon and that is one hell of a range already. I am sure he could

have run well in a marathon straight off the bat but whether he

could get down to the low points that the event seems to be going at

the moment remains to be seen. A1 thing he can do is about Balcombe

run on the track afterwards. There is no reason why you cannot run a

marathon and a go back to the track, but whether he can do the Morning

won championships is a different ask. For anybody who has been a

national record holder for a big country at 1,500m, have they ever

gone through an been good at the marathon? I am asking the question.

Rob discs and. Walker was a record holder at 1500s. He was a good

1500s. The Norwegian record holder went through. That was because her

events was moving up as well. was unlucky enough when she was

running in 1976 and a boycott in 1980, the further she could run on

the track was 1,500m and she was honestly beside herself, she was so

angry. She would come to the men's distance races and asked why she

could not do that. She was the record holder for Norweb but only

because she could not run any further than that. I would say that

is slightly different. If I was Mo Farah I would honestly weight. You

do not get the purple patch that he is going through right now many

times in your life. He has got it right now and you would want to

hang on to it. It is a pleasure to watch. Not only the 1,500m record,

but what about the 50.80 second last lap in the 5,000m, I have

never known anyone run that quickly. The air, that is the 1,500m at the

pace. I did that when I was running. But at the end of the 5,000 it is

another matter altogether. He is at at the top of his form. He is big

business these days and that is a big part of people's lives and

careers and how old is he now? 29 or 30? 30 I think.You have to plan

your next few years, to championships next year,

Commonwealth, Europeans, he could come back to the track and won the

1501 of them if he wants to. He could become the European 1,500m

champion, who knows? Is he serious about running the 1,500m here?

he wasn't serious. The trouble is he says things and immediate rabbit.

We were talking about inviting Amir Khan today. Please! He is having a

bit of fun. That is great and so he should but at the moment he is in

the form of his life. By the way, you sit and talk to him this

morning, as he has nervously waiting for his 10,000m race

tonight and you tell him, or ask him if he was seriously thinking

about three races at these championships. He will only be

thinking about the race tonight. Exactly. Probably if he wins

tonight he will tell us he is going to play for Arsenal as well! Then

he will come and commentate on a marathon. Some wonder that in 1976.

He ran two races and then went and run the marathon. And he came 5th.

Actually he won the 10,000 and then he ran to feeds -- to the sin the

final of the 10,000 and then he ran the heats and the final of the

5,000 and then the next day we were sitting watching the marathon and

after 25 km he hit the front of a marathon and we could not believe

it and he went on to finish 5th. Times have changed. Let us hope

that Mo can mac -- run the marathon as well. Well, we shall see. I am

looking forward to that 10,000m tonight at about 4:00pm UK time. It

is a big race in prospect. The Kenyans and Ethiopians and Mo Farah.

I think we should stop talking about that now because I am getting

nervous and there are still hours to go. This is an exciting race and

has been so far. Look at it now, it is completely different in its

nature to what it has been for the last 50 minutes. They are settling

down together. Valeria Straneo has done her part and they are

approaching the halfway point. Two Ethiopians, three Kenyans, Japanese

athlete and the Italian leader. Valeria Straneo has definitely

backed off a little bit in the last couple of km. You have seen her

leaning headed down with a forward lean the whole way and not

relenting at all but now she seems to be easing back a little bit and

looking round to say, does anyone else in that group have any

interest in taking over the pace. You can see the bunch up there but

that is partly because they are all trying to take the best line

through that turning point and come out the other side. I could see

Edna Kiplagat gesturing to the other runners there, I am not sure

if she was just trying to get through for a better line around

the corner or if she was communicating with her team mates.

The gap back to Ryoko Kikzaki and Jia has closed a little bit. That

was by far the slowest five case split. Up until that point they had

gone faster. That is Mizuki Noguchi, still going very strong. She then

about 9th place. She is on her own. It is 10th place. Rare Keat

Hezakiah is in the 9th place. The first Spaniard is now coming

through. She will be 11 as she crosses the timing that. There is

still plenty of running to do. The lead group are slowing and I am

pretty sure everybody is probably slowing a little bit. These

conditions are certainly going to continue to take their toll. The

Koreans have got a young and experienced squad and that is the

first of them we have seen coming through. Yes, she is moving through

the field a lot. She was back in about a 16th or 17th place. You can

see going back down the other side of the road the two Russian

athletes. That is how Biedermeier Rolph -- Albina Mayorova or. Alida

be to break again at the lead group. That often happens at the water

stations. -- a little bit of a break. There is an opportunity and

you look for the places where you can ask a couple of questions. If

you want to make a break there are not many opportunities, the

turnaround points and the water stations and one person is falling

off that gripper little bit. The Japanese and Chinese athletes are

trying to hang on a little bit. Perez is in 14th place. You say

this many times, and we have listened to you say it, and it is

absolutely right, there are all sorts that can happen. Even at this

early stage we have a long way to go. That is a nice picture there,

coming through the mist. The Russians absolutely have such

experienced athletes. None of them have been able to make any

impression so far on this world championship. Tatyana Aryasova is

behind the leading group at the moment. This group has been almost

since the first steps led by Valeria Straneo of Italy. She is

giving herself a very good chance of being in the top rate of even

higher. She had approached the race with a plan. The plan was to run

steady and they must be through the halfway point now. Looking at the

times, they have gone through the 20km point. As we look down the

field it is interesting and great to see Mizuki Noguchi back running.

runner amongst these athletes. an update on Susan Partridge, 3:26

behind the leaders. Sonia Samuels is three places behind in 25th, 22

seconds behind Susan Partridge. So Susan looks like she may have judged

things pretty well. About a 2:30 pace. Straneo has not relented at

all. We know that five kilometres picked up a bit and may be able to

get back to that group and Jia has rallied with her. So they are within

striking distance still, Paula. There is Noguchi. Sometimes you go

through patches, you go through patches in the marathon where you

think you can't do it and then it starts to come back and people come

back toward you and you are back in the race. Definitely. There are lots

of rough patches in any marathon, even in very fast marathons, there

will be periods where you are not clicking, it is not flowing and it

feels a lot harder and what you have got to be careful about is letting

your mind panic. It is techniques to keep your mind here and now, one

foot in front of the other. Look at Melkamu, the me she is looking

dangerous. She is looking comfortable, although that can be

deceptive with the Ethiopian girls because they often do look as though

they are very comfortable and easy and suddenly they are just gone, but

she is just focusing pretty much on the shorts of Straneo, thinking

about one foot in front of the other. I used to count a rhythm,

which would help take my mind away from any panic about how bad I was

feeling, how far to go, how hot it was, just tuning in to one thing. I

think that is what a lot of these girls will be trying to do now.

Straneo has been pouring a lot of water over herself, I was noticing

how much she was poring over her lower legs. For me now, her shoes

have got to be heavy and squelchy. I don't know if she has practised with

that and she is comfortable with it, but it is not a nice feeling. I know

you focus on a lot of other things on the race, but if you notice the

others, they are trying to cool their upper bodies and not pouring

it down their legs. Are you saying I should practice running in wet

shoes? Well, just pouring that amount of water into your shoes.

Well, it is working. It is also getting rid of one or two from this

pack. Kiplagat looked wan rubble for a second but she has locked onto the

back of the group. It is Lucy Kabuu who is struggling. Straneo, it is

like for the first time she has looked around and said, does anybody

else want to do this because I have done it all myself so far? Every

time she surges a little, it only needs a little bit little change in

cadence, and the group gets stretched dead. Kiplagat immediately

dropped onto the back of Straneo. Lucy Kabuu looked as though she was

struggling, as did Fukushi, and here we go again. Straneo gave them the

invitation, nobody took it and she is doing it herself and the lead

group stretches out once more. as a cloud comes over, I was about

to say there is absolutely no shade on a lot of the stretches of this

course. You can look at the trees, there is very little breeze, and

they will be looking for some to call them down. When they go under

the bridges, that is the only real respite from the direct sun they are

getting other than when the cloud comes over. That was a great picture

of Kizaki, she must be getting very encouraged, because she can see Lucy

Kabuu coming of this group and maybe all of a sudden there is a little

gap there. Kiplagat is aware of it and it does not want Melkamu to get

away. She has understood that and is not going to let those two open up

any gap. Kizaki of Japan closes in on those leaders, she can focus on

the back of Lucy Kabuu. Who ran such a fast half marathon at the

beginning of the year in February, many people's picture, and run well

here, Lucy Kabuu. -- many people's pic to come and run well here, Lucy

Kabuu. It is the first time Kipketer has dropped off this lead group as

well. Getting into racing mode now, well into the second half of the

marathon. The defending champion is well positioned. And the Japanese TV

viewers are getting a run for their money, number 535, Kizaki of Japan

moving close to the leading group. This event is being televised on

prime time on a Saturday night in Japan. We have seen the former

Olympic champion Noguchi, one of the most popular athletes in the history

of Japanese sport, we have seen her give a little bit of an account of

herself and now they are seeing a Japanese athlete becoming

competitive in this race. Straneo has done a really good job of

keeping this place going. The defending champion looks determined

now, she is better business. Melkamu is the outstanding distance runner

amongst these four. And in second place, looking like she is ready to

get competitive. So Straneo doesn't want anybody around her, just once

to get her head down, face the road ahead -- just wants to. She is an

experienced athlete, the Italian record-holder, eighth place in the

Olympic Games last year. Melkamu has promised a lot in her career, never

quite delivered to the levels of her incredible ability. 14:31 for 5,000

metres, 29:53 for 10,000m, that is a read and agree to take from the

track onto the roads. -- a rare pedigree. We now see Kizaki moving

into that area for the top five. Once again, the feed stations, a

very important part of the race. Past the halfway point. Edna

Kiplagat was determined to get that one, so she raised to get the

drinks. -- raced. She didn't want to be in the lead, but she grabbed the

drink, took a sip out of it and threw it away. Paula, can you

explain those labelled drinks? They are personalised drinks. They have

recovery material in, they are not just water. They have basically got

whatever the athletes want to put into them, their personal drinks

that they can put out every five kilometres at the drinks station.

You can fill your bottle with whatever you are used to drinking in

training. It is normally some kind of carbohydrate drink. Anything you

might want to take, like a gel pack or some extra carbohydrate. I think

you are even allowed to take an asthma inhaler in case you might

need it. Something we have not talked about today, but it is quite

polluted on some stretches of this course. So that is possible. And at

the later tables, interspersed along the route, you can pick a plain

water or the sponges and squeeze that over yourself to keep yourself

refreshed. But certainly Edna Kiplagat did not hold onto that

drink very long, she couldn't have taken more than two sips, and she

probably poured more over herself and she got inside her, but is --

that is probably how she has trained. What impressed me was the

pace at which she went to get the bottle, she surged up easily,

whereas you saw the others maintain their rhythm to make sure they get

their bottles. I think it was the last World Championships, the water

station, where she tripped. So I think she is conscious about,

concerned about it, so she raced up to get her drink and settled back

down. She paid more attention to getting the drink and actually

drinking it. She did but she also cut in a lot for somebody who is

worried about taking a tumble. Cutting in front of someone is

dangerous as well. I think she was involved in the fall in London as

well. She is no stranger to bust ups. Some athletes attract that and

all of the other athletes go to stay away. They say stay away, because

they get in trouble and cause falls at these stations. Do you want me to

name a few on the track? Right, Kizaki now moving through that field

to the lead group of four, the Kenyan athletes have fallen away

rather quickly. Edna Kiplagat the only representative in the lead

group. An Italian, Straneo. Kiplagat at Kenyon. Melkamu of Ethiopian and

Fukushi of Japan and her team-mate Kizaki is not too far behind. The

Kremlin, as Paula was saying, the occasional bits of cloud cover, but

predominantly hot and sunny and quite humid, and that is why the

pace is slowing. It was a fairly blistering start, really, setting

out at 2:24 kind of pace in this heat was a strategy which has put

paid to a lot of people behind, so you have to hand it to Straneo, she

has whittled this field then, she has seen the Olympic champion go and

plenty of people who would have been named as contenders disappear from

this group and she has got it down to four. One is chasing and one or

two to keep an eye on, Kim of Korea is moving into the top ten. Along

the river bank, along the Moscow River. Between the river and the

walls of the Kremlin. They will not be noticing the sites, just focusing

on the tarmac ahead, that yellow line is that died. Not the most

inspiring cause, as we have said, in terms of the athletes going up and

down that same road. The latest addition to the Kremlin, Brendan,

inside, in terms of structures? What do think it might be? I haven't got

your book that you are reading from. I had a wander around the

other day, it is a new helicopter pad that Mister Putin had built for

dignitaries, etc, to have a quick route in, because there are too many

cavalcades. I think he just decided the traffic takes too long in

Moscow, which wouldn't be a bad judgement. Just in this bottom

corner where we are, a new helipad. See you have taken over as Question

Of Sport now? You know how Michael Portillo does those travels around

the world? Just chipping in for that sort of job. I could see that.The

great American courses that I haven't run, how about that? -- the

great marathon courses. There are some nice ones. This isn't one of

the best, but there are some good ones. You could probably have made

one that is beautiful around Moscow but this one is working for the

championships and it is definitely a tough test for all of the runners

out there. I saw a clip of 1980, and they did run along this road quite a

lot but they must have done a loop around in the city because they came

down through the cobbles past St Basil's. Those cobbles are not nice

to run on. The early cause did include the cobbles but I think the

athletes' strength overcame the decision. And there is the beautiful

cathedral that Steve described all the history of earlier, St Basil's

Cathedral. And there is the turning again. And now there is a group of

four athletes. And a chance to see how big that gap is back to Kizaki.

She seemed to be closing more than that, I don't know if they have

upped the pace. Certainly Straneo put her head down and pushed it on

and seemed to be encouraging the others to pick it up a bit more. I

have been impressed with Fukushi and how patient she has been so far.

From what I have seen of her in previous tracks and on the roads, I

would have expected her to be more aggressive at the beginning, but she

has been very watchful and covered what she needed to do and not

expended more than she needed to do. I wonder if she has benefited

from advice from somebody like Noguchi coming into the race. We

also have the Olympic champion from 2,000 somewhere here in the media,

commentating on the race for Japanese media. Maybe that has

helped as well. We have talked about the effect of Mo Farah, but

endurance running generally, we are disappointed there is nobody else

apart from him in the 5K and the 10K and the marathon. When you look at

how Japan had targeted the marathon, I was just going through the results

here, no wonder the television are interested. Since 1991, in the

women's race. They were second in 1991, third in 1993, nobody in the

top ten in 1995, third in 97, second, third and fourth in 03.

Second in 09, it is no wonder. This is an event where they have their

athletes to target the World Championships. That is right, the

thing is they do prepare assiduously to these events. The preparation is

often down to the really fine details and Fukushi, who we are

looking at, she has got the pedigree. She was in the 10,000m in

the Olympics last year, she was 10th, so she has the track running

ability and she ran the heats of the 5,000 metres, so she is a good

athlete and in preparing for the marathon, she has got herself ready

and the marathon for Japanese athletes is where the glory is, and

at the end of the day, it is sensible for these athletes to

prepare in this manner and they focus on the events they can do well

at and clearly, the women's marathon is an event they have done well at

because she, when she hits the wall, she hit it with a big bang and she

doesn't quite late on. For cushy. Top three would be a huge success

for her. It would be her big success. It would. I know the world

championships prior to the Olympics, the first Japanese finisher in that

event is guaranteed selection for the Olympics the following year so

they definitely do put a focus and a reward on running and the World

Championships. Their shears, in world place, the defending champion

moves closer to the front now and they are running in single file.

Now, looks as though she wants to be competitive and Valeria Straneo

has done a fabulous place job of. - - job of setting this pace. The

lead cars show exactly how far ahead everybody years. There is

their leading a group of four and then Ryoko Kikzaki just behind that.

For a little bit further back they are just struggling a little bit.

There is a Korean athletes that we mentioned earlier heat Yong Kim --

Hye-Gyong Kim, she has just moved into the top 10 and is closing on

Ryoko Kikzaki. There is a footbridge across to an island, it

does not go to the other bank. We have not mention that yet. I think

the locals call it Balcombe Ireland. There is a canal on the other side

but they have created a canal on the other side. -- Bog Island.

Daria Straneo is never letting it drop. Even when the pace has

dropped a little bit she is always keen to move it on a little bit.

She has put in a lot of hard work and invested a lot of energy into

breaking this a very talented field up and she has been very successful

at that so far. She is trying to continue with that process. She is

trying to break three very good athletes, Melkamu with a bat raised

track and cross country pedigree and Kiplagat, the defending

champion. The gap and now to Ryoko Kikzaki seems to be getting a bit

bigger. Her cadence has changed. Her style is definitely slowing.

There are only a few now who are moving through behind. I am not

sure that anyone else is moving at a pace that the fund grew apart. --

There was a split on our computer that goes from the halfway point.

The previous one was 17.34. That is a little quicker than the previous

one which was 17.38 but that is nothing like the pace they were

operating -- operating at an earlier round. When you trot these

numbers out to people watching, they do not see what difference it

makes but 10 seconds over five km is huge, isn't it? If somebody

opened up a 10 thermometer -- ten- second gap, it is a massive

injection. It is. It is huge. When you think about the man to read it

represents, it is passed that bank and going ahead. A course like this

it is a distance that can look very doable and very approachable if

someone opens up that gap because it is a straight road and it does

not saying that far ahead but when you are pulling away and you think

you have raised your pace and you are trying to close that gap and it

is not closing, it can be very demoralising. Some of these goals

further down are just looking at the backs of the runners ahead of

the marriage can be deceptive as to whether they are closing in or

falling back and in the end you just have to close at your own

rhythm and run like that. Any of the goals that are moving through

the field will just be very much focused on themselves rather than

trying to mark of people ahead of them. To make, there always seems a

point in the race where this happens, where the leader has three

or four in a line. As she drifted across the whole line drifted

across. They are not going to do anything else except for a step-by-

step behind a, doing exactly what you said, looking at the back of

the person in front and nothing be on that. Settling into a rhythm,

there they are. Settling into a rhythm and focusing on the person

at front. They do not want to lead or go to the front. They are happy

for the Italian to do as she has done all the way. They are more

than happy to follow directly in her footsteps. When you are tired,

it is much easier to run like that and almost slot into that rhythm

and let your legs carry on with it and let your mind, not drift away,

but not have to think about it. Even for Valeria Straneo in the

front, that is what she's doing, she is just focusing on the spot on

the road in front of her and just letting the memory from him out of

my van miles they have run in training just take over and carry

them along. That is why you see them all following each other.

Sometimes it is because they are going into a headwind and they are

trying to get shut on the road but I don't think that is the case

today. I don't think there is any noticeable wind that would make a

factor but certainly it is much easier to run in someone's

slipstream, if only because you do not have to think about it. You can

see, with the trees there, there does not seem to be a breath of

wind there. At certain points when we were running along, if you were

right on the edge close to the river on the footpath you could

feel some breeze coming off the river but where they are on the

road, that will be even less. the pace I was struggling along

with with my bad hamstring, I was feeling no wind. Did you get this

far? I got most of the way along. It was just stupid, I should have

turned around and come back but I did not or Paula to get lost! I

tried to struggle along behind her and keeper insight and when most of

the way to the Kremlin and turned around and hobbled back as well. I

could not feel any breeze whatsoever. The first time there is

a little bit of daylight that is a opening up there. The Japanese

athlete is struggling. When you saw her face it looked as though she

was starting to get into a bit more difficulty and she looked more 32

and she had done earlier on in the race. That is the length of the gap

there. As you can see, that is a big gap to think about making up. I

think that is the gap from a Mizuki Noguchi. I think that might

actually have been a big gap between them and Jia. Bad is a gap

of at the 30 seconds to the leaders so what is a substantial gap. You

can see that they have picked up the sponges we picked up -- we were

talking about. We will see if they hold on to their drinks for a bit

longer. A think Kiplagat has been listening. She is holding on to it.

Melkamu have thrown her as a way that the others seem to be holding

on. Valeria Straneo has been holding hers for a long time and

making sure she gets her fully designated a man that she has been

advised by her support team from a bottle. The Japanese athlete is

just setting in behind those. Rare Keat Hezakiah have thrown her drink

away and taken a bottle of water as well. -- Ryoko Kikzaki. It shows

how hot it is out there. There is a lot of work being done there to

keep them cool. It is essential to keep your head cool. If you look at

what she did there, she picked up her main bottle with a small bottle

stuck to the side. The main bottle would be the carbohydrate drink and

I did not see if she took a gel as well but it seemed to be water as

she was squeezing. Who is that? seemed to be going all right but

all of a sudden... It looks as though it is cramped. Is that Jia?

That is a shame. She obviously fell off the group as she had got

herself back together for a bit. She was running in 6th place. A bit

of cramp and she needs to get plenty of that water and she is

taking the sponges there and she is moving a little better than she was

a couple of hundred metres ago. She is still in 6th place. That is a

bad sign go when the cramps starts. To be fair, it is only heading in

one direction. Yes, when you get a crumb passed that stage in the

marathon, you are really just thinking about whether it is

possible to finish without doing serious damage to where it is that

is cramping because without being able to get any type of stretching

of electrolytes to that area in time, it is pretty much impossible.

She may be able to stop and stretch and get started again but she seems

to be really favouring trying to run it off and get back into a

rhythm. News of the British athletes, Susan Partridge has moved

into the top 20. She is a in 19th place. Sonia Samuels is still

moving through the field. She is a little bit further back and in 24th

place. There are going to be more people dropping out in these latter

miles and the British athletes... There is Jia, she is the coming.

That crumple not go away, it will just get worse and it will be a

struggle for her to finish this. -- that cramp will not go away. You

throw your lot in and you go for it, that is what happens with the

marathon. There are not really too many half-measures. It works and it

comes off or you end up breaking down like this. You can see her

looking back because she just came through the drinks station and

there would have been a team official their aura team coach and

she is looking to see what she can do about it. I guess for the good

thing about doing a loop course is that she does not have to worry

about recovery vehicles and how to make it back to the medical areas

and the team areas. Our long-time leader, Valeria Straneo of Italy.

There is Kiplagat and Melkamu as well. They are clear of the field.

There is a little group started to move through, you saw a quick

glimpse of them in that group. They include a Spanish athlete and a

Korean Afellay it. They are chasing a Ryoko Kikzaki who is a fifth-

place and she is struggling now. -- a Korean athletes. This Korean

athlete has started pretty slowly but she has done very well. Very

slowly indeed and she now, I suppose with that group, they might

suppose -- hope, you never know, you have talked about this a lot,

people can just complete the stop. They can be in the lead group and

then know where. We just saw the lead group now and it looks as

there were tears down to three athletes because the Japanese

athlete is going through a bad patch and losing ground. The

reigning champion in third place. Melkamu is the class athlete in

this field in terms of regular distance running. You would bet on

her to win this race if it was any of her other distances but she has

never really distinguished herself in a marathon yet. I really am

beginning to hope that Valeria Straneo can win a medal here. It

would be a real step up for her. She got eight in the Olympic Games

last year and she has gone into the race with Pugin tent and she led

from almost just outside the stadium -- huge intent. She has

been pulling them along at a regular place and the conditions

are really against fast times but she has not approached fast times

but she has really towed them along at a good pace. They have been

operating at a 2.26 rate, but it will probably speed up in the late

stages. The crowds of coming out to support these athletes. If you look

at them, there is the physical battle of keeping going, keeping

the pace going, there is also the battle against the heat. It really

is warm. There is also a mental battle. Sometimes in the marathon

you feel good and you are striding out and other times you are going

through a bad patch and you are struggling and you just have to

keep going. Valeria Straneo has managed to do that, keep herself

going, lead this group. They you can see her and their Karmel and

Kiplagat all three are turning. Then across the road they will see

a gap to fourth place now. -- Melkamu. Can these three hang on to

medal conditions? There will be a lot of questions in the last part

of the event? Who will come out on top? Will these three get the

Looking down the road, we have seen four of them go through. Here is

Kizaki of Japan. She can see her team-mate, Fukushi, who has just

dropped off the group. He will be the first Japanese? We know that

this event is being televised and has huge interest in Japan. It is

popular there because they are outstanding in the women's marathon.

There is the lead group. Kizaki is in fifth place. The pace is

relentless, and still they are running now. 17.24, that was quicker

than the last few kilometres. You can see that is the damage done.

There is Kizaki turning. How far behind is she? Kizaki is only six

seconds behind. What is the gap? Cannot be changed in the later

stages? 1.21, there is a bit to do there. 35 minutes ago in the

marathon. It can all change. It is a big Mac -- a big cap. She is not

moving forward in the field. I think she is maintaining. She was about

1.30 down at the last five K. The big job now is for Fukushi to

maintain herself, as she is very succeed and is watching the medals

when away from her up the road. Can she maintain the spot to be the

first Japanese finisher? Lucy Kabuu is falling off this little group of

three. It is a long way at this stage. People can define one-minute

and then be stopping by the side of the road the next. It is not just a

case of closing the gap, it is about whether people last the course. Lucy

Kabuu was going through in eighth place. The gap now is two minutes

and 30 seconds. I do not think we are seeing any dangers from further

back down the field. I think we are seeing carnage from the pace that

Valerie Straneo has set. It has been relentless. She started with the

first splits about 17.07, setting the tone for the race and dictating

how people would come and -- would contend with these conditions. Then

we had a stretch that was slower, and now she has picked it up again.

We have moved more quickly through the most recent five kilometre

section. In front, it is Kiplagat, Melkamu and Straneo. At the moment,

it is between these three. They are three very good athletes. Straneo is

the least known on the world circuit. She is a good athlete, but

not of the same calibre as Melkamu and Kiplagat. But she is the one who

has dictated everything so far today. One thing about Straneo

coming into this race today, I am not sure where they were held, but

she did well in the half marathons recently. It would have been in

similar conditions to what we are experiencing today. She is showing

that she can handle the conditions well. She has prepared all year

knowing that she would be facing these conditions it and she wanted

to be sure that she could come here and attack is an attack -- execute

her race plan. She will be planning her nutrition and fluids she is

taking on as well to mature that she is hydrated both before and during

the race, by what she has practised in training. Deena Kastor is moving

through the field as well. She is doing well in 11th place, in a

little group that are running together. Noguchi's team-mate,

Noguchi going back through the field. I will give you an update as

soon as I can. Susan Partridge has moved into the top 20. Sonia Samuels

is not too far behind. Difficult conditions for the British

athletes, who have trained hard for this, trained hard for their chance

to come and contest the World Championships. They will be hoping

that they can finish strongly and survive what has become a real test.

This is always an injury test. Today, even more so. What is going

on here? We might have lost Melkamu. She is signalling, trying to get a

gap, an idea of the distance that she has over Fukushi. Or maybe she

is trying to get advice, or maybe she missed a drink. I think that was

the drink station going in the direction. I don't think it was the

one going in this direction. But she has lost a large amount of ground

quickly there. Yes, some of her team winner -- Werther -- some of her

team were there. It may be that she was asking for a drink. Stride here

is shaking out her arms again, a forward action, with a low knee

left. Kiplagat is gliding along behind her. It is beginning to look

better and better for the defending champion. She now just has Straneo

to contend with. Given the work she has done, you would hope that

Straneo can master this out and had towards a medal. Italy have only

ever once won a medal, bronze medal, but Straneo is doing a great

job here. She is doing a great job, certainly, keeping the race going.

The defending champion now looks as though there is one main obstacle to

her defending her title. Stripey oh-today like we have never seen her

run before. Melkamu, if this had been a half marathon race, you would

have bet on her when she was travelling at the halfway point. She

is a class athlete. She has an awful lot faster at 5,000m and 10,000m

than these others. She has promised such a lot in her career and has had

good performances in her career. She has been second in the World

Championships at 10,000m. You would have thought an athlete of this

ability would come into the marathon well prepared. Can she make it? It

does not look as though today will be her day. The thing is as well

that she has left it late in her career to move into the marathon.

She has had a couple of children and come back, but she has been

competing for a long time and I don't know if she has the pace. The

other thing I would question is she looks like she is running in a

pretty heavy vest, and the other girls are running in lightweight

crop tops, which by now I would imagine are pretty soaked and

cooling their skin. I can imagine the best is quite heavy after you

are carrying it around for a long time, and that could be causing

fatigue. She is also looking around quite a lot, she pretty much stopped

to look down the road behind, which will probably give Fukushi some

encouragement that she is not that far away and can win some ground

back. Once you start to lose it, you can lose it in many directions.

Melkamu has to gather herself and clear her mind. She is clearly going

through a bad patch, but she needs to think about, can she keep it

going, can she keep the pace true and honest? Can she keep in

contention here? And of course, the nature of this course is that they

can see it. The others chasing will be aware that all of a sudden, think

when you are bringing you see a group of three working together and

next time you do the turnaround, you think, hang on a minute, if you are

in sixth or seventh place, even two minutes behind, you can be

reinvigorated, thinking that matter someone who looks in trouble and

they might not make it to the finish line. Susan Partridge is through the

30 kilometres point and has moved to 16th place. Five minutes and 46

seconds behind the leaders, continuing to move through the

field. Sonia Samuels is also picking up a couple of places, now in 20th

place, 17 minutes behind the leaders. Both of the British

athletes are in the top 20. It is looking difficult for Melkamu. She

now has to hope that she can take a drink on board from the station.

think that maybe was the source of the confusion when the gap was made.

I think she genuinely believed she could take a drink and she was

trying to see -- to say to her team members that she wanted a drink, and

they were going to give her one. She was struggling and in need of

getting some kind of energy into, more than fluids at that point. That

has thrown her. Whether she will be able to recover or whether that will

develop into a battle, because Taguchi is not far behind her. --

because fugu she is not far behind still be up for grabs for Fukushi.

The front two are still doing well. You have got to admire what Valeria

Straneo has done. I am not sure it was the game plan for her to lead,

but she obviously came here thinking she could run a hard race in these

conditions. It is sometimes a strategy that you can look at the

conditions and think, either everyone is going to run slow, or,

come on, I know that I could do this, see if I can break it up and

have a go and lasted through. she has obviously conditioned

herself to run in these hot conditions. She trains a lot in

Italy. This has been warm and hot and she has been training and

getting ready for this. Is Melkamu in third place. She trained at

altitude. Sometimes the transition from altitude quickly to sea level

and then running in hot weather is a bit difficult. There is Fukushi, who

is really having a hard time now. But she can see Melkamu ahead of

her. Which way are they going? Is she fading as quickly as Melkamu

is? But these two met in the front, she knew what she wanted to do, and

the athlete spent a lot of time in the last couple of days complaining

about the weather and the heat. But Straneo said, we can't do anything

about it, we can't do anything about the time or the heat. I know I can

run well in these conditions and I know how to do it. She has done it

at a strong and sensible place -- pace. Melkamu is going through a

really bad patch in third place and she now has to concentrate. She

wants a medal. She has had a medal in the World Championships in the

past. She wants a medal in the marathon today. The leading

Ethiopian team are really confident about their performances here. They

are confident about Edie Gelana, the Olympic champion, coming back. There

is too she -- there is Fukushi in fourth place. She is the one that

has an opportunity for a medal. But these two are racing for first and

second place. The champion clearly wants to defend her title. Straneo,

has she got the mental power and the desire to win the gold medal? Or is

she going to be settling happily for a silver medal? That mental battle

will unfold in the next half an hour. She has the mental power and

determination. That is reflected in the way she has attacked the race

and taken it to them. She has laid everything on the line to win. She

knows she can handle these conditions, and she has rightly

assessed that a lot of the other athletes will struggle. It is

whether she has expended too much in leading on the race, and will it be

that be able to hang on and cruised past her in the final few kilometres

on the race, which is when it be that likes to wind it up and move

through? Her analysis of others not being able to compete in these

conditions has been right. She has tested them all. The ones who could

not handle the heat have fallen by the wayside. So from step one, she

has really done well. It is sapping, running in conditions like this.

When you have got the heat combined with humidity, we are sweating even

though we are in the shade in the stadium, and that can be a big

factor. It pulls away at you all the time. Melkamu looks as though she is

still maintaining her style and rhythm, but that gap is closing back

to Fukushi behind her. I have just had a piece of paper from our

statistician. Let me ask you, Steve. The last Italian woman to win

a world gold medal was in the long jump in 2001. That is cheating.

Fiona was a Brit who married an Italian. I mentioned earlier that

they have only won a bronze medal in the marathon. This is a significant

performance from Straneo. Albini, on the men's side, they have had plenty

of good runners, but they have not done well on the women's side.

are obviously Italian is in the crowd, and she had the wherewithal

to wave to her friends. That was interesting. That tells you that

mentally, she is in good shape. Welcome to looks across the road.

She sees the first two doing the other way. She knows what is

happening. There are the first two, and there is Melkamu in third place.

We are still looking for the athlete in fourth place, Fukushi of Japan,

being chased down by her team-mate. Is third place going to change in

the next 25 minutes? Or will Melkamu settle for another medal? She looks

over her shoulder. She is being chased around the turn by the

Japanese athlete, Fukushi, who looks as though she is going strong.

have just got the maths out. It is two hours, one and five seconds.

That was the fastest five kilometres of the race so far since the first

five kilometres. That is one reason why Melkamu is behind now. She ran

as well as she could. And Straneo, imperceptibly, has been forcing the

pace. Kiplagat has been there all the time and you know she is working

hard. You cannot not be working hard, because as Paula will tell

you, when the pace drops and then builds again, that is hard work.

Fukushi closes in on Melkamu for third. It is hard work and it is

very impressive running at this stage from Straneo and Kiplagat. I

can see the strain starting to show an Edna Kiplagat's face. Melkamu is

certainly paying the price for trying to go with the injection of

pace. Fukushi is gaining in confidence, because she is able to

get closer. Straneo has been gesturing every time she comes

around the corner, and I have been trying to watch the guys on the

bikes who are cycling alongside. I am sure there must be a coach or

team manager who has been following her and giving information on the

gaps, although on this course, it is easy to see for yourself. If he was

giving her good information, he would be telling her, you are

testing Kiplagat now. Kiplagat just grabbed this bunch. I don't know if

if Melkamu is getting information, but the information that should be

coming her way is that she is going to be joined by the Japanese

athlete, Fukushi. Fukushi looks to be going stronger than Melkamu.

Melkamu looks over her shoulder and then started to feel her leg. She

has started to slow down dramatically. She saw she was being

challenged, and suddenly, is this Melkamu pulling out of the race? She

is not happy. She quickly slowed down and then let Fukushi takeover.

She felt her hamstring. We don't know if there is a problem. The

moment, she is giving up the third base to let Fukushi take the

initiative. Interesting move. her hands kept going to the side of

her leg. And then as soon as she gets passed, she slots in behind

Fukushi. Mental problems, Paula? For me, that is not necessarily

physical. That is somebody struggling with what is going on in

her head. Absolutely, and controversially, it is a bit of an

Ethiopian mentality to just slipped behind. She might just sit on the

back of the cushy for a bit and try and regroup. If she is able to hang

in, she will be a danger coming into the stadium, because she might

muster up a finish that will be better than Fukushi's. So Fukushi

needs to focus on making sure she keeps working. I don't think she

will make any inroads on these two. They are moving away now and they

are clearly the gold and silver medallist, it is just a question of

which way round. Straneo is in good spirits. Her gestures to the crowd

tell you she is in control. She was waving and smiling. Melkamu has

settled down in the wake of Fukushi. Fukushi has a slight mental

advantage, because she has been coming strongly from behind. Now she

is leading Melkamu, who you would imagine has a better sprint finish

than Fukushi. And of these two, the question is, who will make the move

first? Straneo wants to wear down the opposition. She whittled the

group down from a sizeable number. The inches are beginning to move.

Just a bit of an advantage. Would you want to be on the shoulder of

Straneo at this point? She is certainly testing the champion. She

is running herself into a medal position. Fukushi is running into

the bronze medal position. And we were right about Melkamu. She was

struggling, and she is not going to go any further. Fukushi is running,

and the Japanese viewers at home will be seeing. The Italian Leeds,

with the Kenyan in second place. Straneo is the athlete who anybody,

even watching in Japan, once Straneo to win, the way she has been going.

Melkamu is now walking in fourth place, and Fukushi of Japan has

moved into third. If you are just joining us, this is the women's

world championship marathon, live from Moscow, the Moscow River on the

left-hand side of these leaders. That is the defending champion, Edna

Kiplagat. Nobody has ever successfully defended this title.

One person won it twice, but there was a gap between the two wins. No

woman from Italy has ever won this title. Straneo has set the pace from

the beginning. It was a hard place in these tough conditions for

marathon running, and it has put paid to some big names. The Olympic

champion has gone. Now her team-mate, Melkamu, who for a long

time was in a medal position, is also now walking and watching the

medals disappear in the distance. We have two British athletes, Susan

Partridge now moving into the top 15. Sonia Samuels is still going in

19th place at the moment. This is where these races are won and lost.

With all this hard work, Paula, what is going through their minds 's you

are a committed front runner. On the track, there must have been times