Following UK Athletics' selection last week of world record holder Paula Radcliffe and Mara Yamauchi, a group of leading British runners will be using the race to further their claims to the one remaining Olympic place.

The British pack contains two other athletes who have achieved the qualifying time of 2 hours 31min  – Bristol-based Claire Hallissey, who was sixth in Chicago in 2 hours 29min 27sec, and Winchester's Louise Damen who ran 2:30:00 in London in 2011 – plus the two-times Olympian and former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Liz Yelling who has a personal best of 2:28:33.

Other Britons vying for Olympic places include Brighton champion Alyson Dixon, Susan Partridge from Leeds, Sale's Amy Whitehead, Helen Decker of Ipswich and Rebecca Robinson from Kendal, while Freya Murray and Sonia Samuels will make their marathon debuts.

Jo Pavey, who also has the qualifying time and who ran a second marathon in New York last month, will no doubt be watching with interest, assuming she does not change her plans and enter the race herself.

"The British battle for women's Olympic places will be an intriguing part of next year's race," said Dave Bedford, joint race director of the Virgin London Marathon and a member of UK Athletics' marathon selection panel.

"With the Olympic Games in London just a few months later the incentive for British marathon runners couldn't be greater."

Keitany will be vying for spots on Kenya's Olympic team with three compatriots – world champion, Edna Kiplagat, who was third in London last year after winning the 2010 New York title; Priscah Jeptoo, this year's Paris champion and silver medallist at the Daegu World Championships; and Florence Kiplagat who was a brilliant winner of the Berlin marathon in September.


Keitany, 30, had a brilliant year in 2011 when she smashed the world half marathon record, broke the 2:20 barrier with a memorable victory in London, and ran the first half of the New York City Marathon in November inside world record schedule before fading to finish third.

But she faces a tough task when she returns to London as the women's field assembled by Bedford contains no fewer than 15 women who have run the distance quicker than 2:25, including the reigning World and Olympic champions, and three athletes who have broken 2:20.

The impressive list of non-Kenyan entrants for the women's race is headed by Germany's Irina Mikitenko, London champion in 2008 and 2009, and includes six talented Ethiopians, the Olympic champion, Constantina Dita of Romania, the experienced Russian pair, Inga Abitova and Mariya Konovalova, Swedish record holder Isabellah Andersson, and Portuguese star Jessica Augusto.

"This has to be one of the most talented women's fields we've ever had and with numerous Olympic places up for grabs I'm sure we'll see a fantastic race," said Bedford.

"We are delighted that our champion Mary Keitany is back following her superb victory this year but she will have to be at her very best just to win the battle of the Kenyans, while athletes from other countries have great marathon pedigrees of their own and will have everything to prove themselves ahead of the Olympic Games."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
December 2011: Radcliffe's fifth Olympics confirmed as Yamauchi and Overall also get London 2012 nod