South East Cornwall's best known athlete, the marathon runner Marian Sutton, is bound for the Sydney Olympics in September. Her achievement was confirmed in a letter sent to her home at Looe, which she received from the British team selectors on Monday.
To a delighted Marian it is justification at last, going a long way to addressing the controversy of her being passed over in the two previous Olympics, particularly on the last occasion when her qualifying time was faster than two other runners who were sent in her place.
But this time there was no doubting the 36 year old runner's pedigree. So far she is the only British woman marathon runner to reach the qualification time of sub two hours 30 minutes, gained at the Chicago Marathon last October, and has therefore been given the one automatic place out of the three on offer.
So far Marian is about 8 minutes faster than any of her other British rivals, which includes Liz McColgan who is presently injured and has had to pull out of the London Marathon. Marian herself is just recovering from a calf injury but is now back into light training gradually building herself up for the Olympics. She does not intend to run any more full marathons until the big one but says she will compete in shorter distances. 'I want to keep the competitive edge going' she says. Since she moved to Looe with her husband Matthew 19 years ago, the tall blonde 6ft figure of Marian has become a familiar sight around local roads where she does most of her training. She often runs home to Looe in the mornings after driving to the Caradon Council offices where Matthew works in the legal department. 'He has always supported me in my ambition to reach the Olympics' says Marian, 'and he will be in Sydney when I run'. After the couple received the news the first person Marian rang was her mother Betty who lives in Loddiswell, Devon. 'She is obviously thrilled' said Marian, 'but sadly my father Leslie died last summer so will not see what I have strived so long to achieve'.
Next to her family - Marian also has two sisters and a brother - her greatest supporters are the people of Looe. 'They are amazingly supportive of what was formerly my hobby and has now become my life' she said, 'and it means a lot to me'.
Mayor Dave Bryan said he would like to congratulate her on behalf of the town. 'She is a well liked and wonderful ambassador for Looe, and has been a very popular Citizen of the Year' he said. 'We wish her well and will be very excited if she brings home a medal'.
Marian will fly to Sydney at the beginning of September to prepare for her race on the 24th.