ATHLETICS: Sonia O'Sullivan had few complaints but several regrets. The weather was ideal for marathon running. The pace was manageable, even inviting. The crowds were buoyant and generous. She had been warned about the hazards and the pitfalls.

She had left good form out on the roads. Run slow miles when she had fast miles in her legs. Been asked to run fast ones when she had nothing. Welcome to the marathon.

"I think the first half, I was ok. I felt alright but not fantastic," she said. "The crowds were great. I think maybe I should have gone faster early on. I was going to get tired in the end. Everyone said relax and hang back.

"Maybe that wasn't the right thing to do. After the second water station, I felt very good. First bridge was okay. All of a sudden, my hamstrings tightened up. Don't know if it was the hardness of the ground. My legs were just really, really tight and I couldn't run properly so it was something I wasn't used to feeling and something I didn't enjoy."

Visibly upset by such a large and public setback in a rollercoaster career O'Sullivan was still at the point of unravelling her own tactics and where they had betrayed her. She had listened perhaps to too many voices injuncting her against going too fast in the first half of the race.

Having run 71-minute half marathons many times in training she was almost five minutes off that pace at the half way stage and clearly running well within herself.

She regretted the control she had brought to the business but the tactics of the race concerned her.

She had expected Lornah Kiplaget to push the pace a little more and when it didn't happen... "I spoke to her afterwards and she also said that she probably would have preferred to have run faster from the start and maybe it is a mistake that both of us maybe were that bit cautious."

O'Sullivan will travel back to London today and in a week's time decamp to Melbourne for her traditional winter session. She hopes to resume serious business with the World Cross Country in the spring.

As for marathons? "Right now, I don't know. I just want to have a break and I suppose start all over again. I'll pick a few more things to look forward to and things to train for. I don't know right now but the marathon is not the next race I want to run. I always said I had to find out if I was any good. If it was something I could do. First event... well it doesn't make me want to do anymore in the near future. I should have been more aggressive. Too many people felt too good after ten miles."

When the gap opened up in the race with about 10 miles to go O'Sullivan looked at ways of getting back in but her legs were recaltricant and her mind was uncertain.

"I tried to get back in. Marla Runyan was there but I couldn't get a rhythm. My legs felt they were getting to the end. I just wanted to get to the finish and forget about the race. Looking back at it if I could start the race all over again, I think I would go faster in the first half even if I was in the same position for the second half. At least I would know that I had tried my best and that other people wouldn't feel so comfortable."