Sonia destroys rivals and bests her best in record run
She covered the BUPA half marathon in 67.19 minutes, knocked almost three minutes off her previous best, broke the Irish record by 39 seconds and, for good measure, arrived within 11 seconds of the course record.
But it was not just time or the victory that was significant here: it was the manner in which the Irish woman decimated a field of world class runners. What made this one of the great runs in the history of the event was the fact that the field included the winners of three Olympic gold medals, the first three in this year's world half marathon championship, and the Commonwealth Games champion.
In the end it was O'Sullivan's Australian training partner, Susie Power, who emerged from the debris to finish second in 67:56. The Kenyan marathon specialist, Joyce Chepchumba, came third in 68:34.
Fernanda Ribeiro, the 1996 Olympic 10,000m champion, finished fifth, one place ahead of Derartu Tulu, winner of two Olympic gold medals at 10,000m, with the reigning world half marathon champion Birhane Adera down the field in 12th position. They were all victims of the relentless running of the Irish woman who has obviously found a new lease of life on the road.
Dispensing with the services of the nominated pacemaker, Yelena Burykina of Russia, O'Sullivan took control of the race at the gun. After opening miles of 4:59, 5:07 and 5:03 the field was in shreds. By four miles the defending champion Susan Chepkemei was sitting on the road untying her shoelaces and about to hitch a ride to the finish.
When they passed the five miles in 25:34 she was 30 metres clear of Power, Ribeiro and Chepchumba with Tulu trying to hang on and Elana Meyer of South Africa content to run her own race.
After encountering a slight but elongated climb she hit back with a 4:59 seventh mile and 4:57 for the eighth to declare that she was on schedule for a fast time. She hit 10 miles in 51:08 which would have been a world record had she not run 51 minutes a month earlier. From here on it was plain sailing.
"I really felt that once I got to five miles I knew that was the highest point of the course and then the aim was to run hard for the next three miles and, if there was a group there, to break it open. As it was, I just felt like I was running steady the whole way," she said. She had no idea what was happening behind her nor the chaos and confusion she had caused amongst the pack as each in turn tried to at least stay in touch.
"I did not really see anybody. The only person I saw was Chepkemei and then I knew she must have dropped out or something when I saw her coach jump off the truck. I knew there was something going on. I really did not see anybody else in the race," she said.
"I think it was when she dropped out that I got away. I really don't know if there was anybody else around. I wasn't looking behind me at all.
"I thought it was a race the whole way because for some reason I thought there was someone close to me. You listen to the crowd and sometimes you are reacting to people on the sideline and what they are saying and I definitely sensed there was somebody closer. Even when I looked behind and I did not see anybody I thought maybe there was somebody and I just could not see her. I was pushing all the way because the most important thing for me was to win the race."
But there was nothing that resembled a challenge from the ever-diminishing group chasing her. Only Power looked as though she might close the gap, but that was only momentarily. O'Sullivan had killed off the opposition at an early stage. "I felt really good throughout the race, but definitely over the last mile I had pretty much run out of energy. I think that is why, for the (New York) marathon I will be taking some drinks along the way and, hopefully, will not be so worn out at the finish.
"I think also, coming down on to the seafront and hoping that the wind is with you and then you turn the corner and you discover it is against you -- it's not very encouraging. I just ran as hard as I could to get to the finish line." She insisted the course record was never a concern. She knew she faced a formidable field and this race was all about winning.
"I'm not too bothered about time or course records or anything like that. If it was going to happen, it was going to happen. OK, I wanted to run faster than I had ever run before but I think people place too much emphasis on time," she said.
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