Greatest Female Marathon of All-Time: P. Radcliffe, C. Ndereba, N. Takahashi....?

scotth wrote:

...and your list includes who? You see, the diff between you and I is a list. Put up my friend.

That's weak. Telling someone to put up a list doesn't constitute a plausible defense of your own, my friend, and your list sucks. Waitz in front of Radcliffe? Sure, she was great in her day and won lots of races, hoo-rah, but she's not in the same area code as Radcliffe ability-wise and she wasn't racing all of East Africa, or Japan for that matter, in her heyday, as is Radcliffe. Paula is so f***in dominant that everyone wants to find paradoxical reasons why she _shouldn't_ be ranked at the top. Dumb. No need to complicate what is simple.

Albert Ellis wrote:

Paula is so f***in dominant that everyone wants to find paradoxical reasons why she _shouldn't_ be ranked at the top.

Ahhhh, and you were doing so well until the 'f' word.

princess of wales wrote:

the fact that paula runs 2:15-2:20 came as no huge shocking surprise, it was expected--eventually--and she wasnt the first to do it. paula has made the sport more competitive, but not on an earth shattering level like grete.

So someone ran 2:15 before Radcliffe did? I didn't know we were including wheelchair racers in this. You f***! BLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

And just because people with empty heads might not find ANYTHING to be a "huge shocking surprise" doesn't mean plenty of others weren't amazed. You were finger painting at the time, I'm sure, but track fans know a monumental run when they see one. You f***!

BLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

I wonder what the views on this website would be if Paula was from the US??

I reckon people would say she's the greatest, without a shadow of doubt.

But never mind she's British and we think she's the greatest. And in my mind, that is all that matters. So Vipam etc etc shoot me down if you want to, I don't give a f***!

UK Boy wrote:

I wonder what the views on this website would be if Paula was from the US??

I reckon people would say she's the greatest, without a shadow of doubt.

But never mind she's British and we think she's the greatest. And in my mind, that is all that matters. So Vipam etc etc shoot me down if you want to, I don't give a f***!

Same on this board if it was Catherine from the U.S. Then she would be the greatest. I hate to play the race card, but I do think Paula gets the nod on here from the 12 year olds because of color.

f*** brit wrote:

because of one WC?

Absolutely... that is all she needed.

There have been some great female marathoners such as Ingrid Kristiansen, Rosa Mota, Joan Benoit Samuelson; however, in the last decade 3 marathoners have established themselves as cream of current women marathoners. Paula Radcliffe, Catherine Ndereba, and Naoka Takahashi with some others such as Lornah Kiplagat, Tegla Lourope, and Maraget Okaya but who in your opinion is the best ALL-TIME!

Paula Radcliffe (GBR)

2:15:25 (WR)..........1)London........'03

2:17:18...............1)Chicago.......'02

2:17:42...............1)London........'05

2:18:56...............1)London........'02

nt..................dnf)Olympics......'04

no Olympic or World Marathon medals but own 4 of the 5 fastest marathons, most sub 2:20 clockings with 4

Catherine Ndereba (Ken)

2:18:47...............1)Chicago.......'01

2:19:26...............2)Chicago.......'02

2:19:55...............2)London........'03

2:21:12...............2)Boston........'02

2:21:33...............1)Chicago.......'00

2:23:03...............2)New York......'03

2:23:53...............1)Boston........'01

2:23:55...............1)World Ch......'03

2:26:32...............2)Olympics......'02

World Championship (Gold), Olympic (Silver), 4 time winner of Boston and 2nd women to have multiple sub 2:20 clockings with 3

Naoko Takahashi (Jap)

2:19:46...............1)Berlin........'01

2:21:47...............1)Bangkok.......'98

2:21:49...............1)Berlin........'02

2:23:14...............1)Olympics......'00

Olympic Gold and first women under 2:20

is one of these 3 your All-Time pick for "Greatest Female Marathoner" or did someone else top your list? Who in your opinion is the best all-time and why?

VIPAM

Ndereba is my pick.

I'd have to do a lot of thinking to determine a best ever female marathoner, but Grete Waitz would have to get some consideration along with others you've mentioned on the basis of her sheer dominance of the event from her debut in '78 through the '83 world championships. Granted, women's marathoning has come a long way since then and is far more competitive , but her record for about 5 years was impeccable, including 3 or 4 wrs, a gold medal at the inagural world championships, 5 wins at New York, plus a silver in the '84 olympics when slightly injured. And she didn't run too shabby from '84-'88 either, but her dominance from '78-'83 has been unmatched in women's marathoning since.

One other factor worth considering is head-to-head matchups. Of course, this doesn't happen too much in elite marathoning, but I think it can be important.

Can we really say "Greatest" if they are all still active? I would say Catherine is still a more accomplished marathoner than Paula. Paula is clearly the fastest marathoner of all time. And Paula seems to recognize (based upon today's announcement) that a WC Gold will contribute to her legacy. If they both run the WC, it will be a great race.

Grete name should have been among those listed for Greatest but her dominance came at a time when women marathoning was just taking off and their wasn't much depth. Grete only had to worry about Joanie, Lisa Ondeki, Rosa Mota, and Ingrid Kristainsen and most of them came in the mid 80's. The lack of depth would keep Grete off the top of my list but still be among the top three, my pick is Catherine Ndereba.

Mary Decker Tabb Slaney could have demlished all records if she had trained for the marathon!

You've left off Paula Radcliffe's win in New York which brings her win-loss record to 5-1 in marathons. It's a bit premature to call her the greatest of all time when she's only half-way through her marathon career but she's well on the way. I don't see how anyone can call Ndereba the greatest of all time when she isn't even the best active marathon runner. Her head-to-head record against Radcliffe is 1-2 with the only win coming at the Olympics when Radcliffe wasn't fit to race.

Waitz would get my vote for the moment but I think Radcliffe will surpass her easily.

I'm no fan of Paula, but I'd still pick her as the greatest. Her times are just too fast for me to pick someone else. I'd be more comfortable with that pick if hse won some major marathons under tough course and weather conditions, however.

Ultimately, after Paula's times get beaten by other women, I think that her place in marathoning history will be similar to that of Jim Peters for the men. Fastest in the world, lots of world bests, but no enduring legacy in major championships.

Catherine Ndereba by far.

like people have already suggested, runners arent well remembered for breaking world records (unless it's the four minute mile). though if paula was the first to break 2:20, she'd at least have a footnote in history.

maybe she should take ingrid kristiansen's advice--take a year off before 2008. and maybe have a baby during that time. it did wonders for ndereba.

princess of wales

I agree that fast times doesn't account for you place in history if you have NO Gold medal or either Worlds or Olympics. Paula is definitely the most talented marathoner but Catherine is currently the greatest and most consistent! She have medaled at the both the Olympics and Worlds something that few marathoners have ever done and then she have the fast times to back it up and a slew of other major marathon victories.

Paula has time to become the best ever female marathoner if she medal at both Olympic or Worlds (or win Gold at either) but a few other women can also climb to the top with such victories. Catherine Ndereba has done what they're attempting to accomplish!

VIPAM

hmm...on the other hand, one could argue that her lack of olympic/WC wins will make her stand out. look at MDTS (mary decker tabb slaney). no wait, she did have the 83 championships, but she had such bad bad bad luck with the olympics, which is a story unto itself.

paula may end up being the poster child for future great runners and world record breakers who will also end up with bad luck/timing when it comes to no gold medals.

at least she will be remembered in london.

I think Grete Waitz's Sub 2:30 in 1979, ( 2:27:33 ) was a major breakthrough for womens running. I'm not downplaying the achievements of Paula, Catherine, and Naoko, but the difference with those women is that by this point in time many were convienced that a sub 2:20 would eventually happen. Grete was far and away in a league of her own, even more so than Paula is. Grete's WR in 1979 was 7 plus minutes faster than the next fastest woman EVER. Paula's 2:15 is just 3 minuts quicker than her next rival.