Bedford ready with marathon response

An interesting exchange is expected this morning when Flora London Marathon race director David Bedford and top British star Jon Brown come face to face.

Bedford is set to respond to Brown’s angry outburst about not receiving any appearance money to run in Sunday’s race.

It is customary for top stars to be paid a fee and Brown, fourth in the last Olympic marathon, believes he is being slighted by event organisers.

“I have been offered nothing to run in Sunday’s race, although I have been given a fee for the press conference,” said the 33-year-old.

The self-exiled star, who now lives in Canada, is adamant he can better the Olympic qualifying standard of two hours 15 minutes around the streets of London.

Indeed, Brown thinks London organisers are taking advantage of that fact by denying him the customary payment made to elite athletes.

Brown, who has suffered injury problems since the Sydney Games, said: “As you can imagine I’m not happy to run under such circumstances but I need to get the qualifying time for Athens.”