Sonia O'Sullivan may have to join the exclusive club of women who have run under two hours and 20 minutes if she is to win the New York City Marathon on Sunday.
The ambitious prediction came from one of the world's top distance coaches, Dr Gabriele Rosa, the Italian who guides the career of defending champion Margaret Okayo.
With O'Sullivan eager to cover the first half of the race in 71 minutes, Dr Rosa is adamant Okayo - who specialises in running the second phase at a much faster pace - will cover that stretch in under 69 minutes.
Predictably the response that anyone can better 2:20 on what is deemed to be the toughest 26.2-mile course in the world has been dismissed - even by Allan Steinfeld, the race director in the Big Apple.
Steinfeld said: "We would love it if Sonia or anyone else could run under 2:20. But this is a difficult course. As good as the women are, I would expect the winning time to be in the region of 2:21-2:22."
However Dr Rosa insists his 26-year-old protege Okayo has arrived for the race in the best shape of her life and will run far faster than the course record 2:24:21 she set 12 months ago.
Proving her credentials, Okayo reduced her personal best to 2:20:53 when decisively defeating Catherine Ndebera in Boston - by almost half-a-minute.
That success saw Okayo become the first woman to hold both prestigious titles since Germany's Utta Pippig won the New York and Boston races in 1993 and 1994. It is an accolade she eagerly wishes to retain.
Dr Rosa now believes Okayo will defy the experts and take the New York course record into a new dimension when clashing with not only O'Sullivan but Joyce Chepchumba and Lornah Kiplagat, two fellow Kenyans with the experience and credentials for victory.
"If Sonia is looking for 71 minutes that will suit us perfectly," said Dr Rosa, whose international coaching stable in Brescia includes many of the world's leading distance runners, headed by world half marathon record-holder Paul Tergat.
"Okayo will run the second half in under 69 minutes. That is our plan," insisted the Italian guru who confidently predicts his protege, just as she did during her clash with Ndebera, will pull ahead in the final miles.
While no one disputes the undoubted potential of O'Sullivan, her many supporters are praying she will keep a wise head on her shoulders and not get carried away with the occasion - particularly with over a million fans lining the route and cheering her along.
"Winning here is far more important for Sonia than just getting a fast time," said former world 5,000m gold medallist Eamonn Coghlan, unconvinced that Dr Rosa has called the right shot for the winning mark.
"This is a really tough course," said Coghlan. "I think Sonia has the ability to run 2:20. But despite the quality in the field I'm going for a winning time of 2:21-2:22."
O'Sullivan herself is now totally transfixed on producing the goods, with the winner rewarded with US$80,000. There is also a bonus of $65,000 for any contestant clocking under 2:22.
"Big city marathons are big events, races you want to win," said O'Sullivan, heeding Coghlan's advice. "It's something I've never done before. You just want to find out if you're good at something else - and the marathon really is something else.
"It's much more important for me to win than run a fast time. This is such a big race. To put your name on a list with the people who've won the New York Marathon is one of those things you want to do in your lifetime."