by DAN SILKSTONE
AFTER a nightmare two years in which she lost her marriage, her form and her fitness, Benita Willis finds herself in an unlikely position ahead of today's Great Australian Run: race favourite.
The 30-year-old wasn't quite prepared to accept that mantle this week, proclaiming the nation's top road race wide open, but the late withdrawal of two of the top fancies for the women's race and a recent training block at Falls Creek's National Altitude Training Centre has Willis in her best shape of recent times and an excellent chance to claim the race.
Germany's Irina Mikitenko - the top-ranked female marathoner this year - pulled out mid-week with a bad flu while Olympic bronze medallist Deena Kastor withdrew for family reasons.
Willis has previously won Great Run races in Manchester and Newcastle, England, and is a former world cross country champion. But she endured a nightmare 2008 in which she separated from her husband, battled foot injuries and had a poor Olympic campaign.
''I am back to where I need to be fitness wise and I am looking forward to challenging the top girls and being there when it counts towards the finish,'' she said.
To win she will have to get past Portugal's Fernanda Ribeiro - a former world and Olympic champion on the track but, at age 40, hardly in career-best form - and British runner Helen Clitheroe, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist but an athlete who has never competed in a 15-kilometre race.
''It's good to be back, I'm really looking forward to the race,'' Willis said. ''I don't get many opportunities to run against some of the best athletes in the world at home.''
Last year, Willis - then Benita Johnson - was badly prepared for the race and finished a disappointing fifth. This year she is in much better shape and has been training at Falls Creek with a group coached by Nic Bideau that also includes men's race contender Collis Birmingham and emerging female Nikki Chapple. Hopes are also high for Birmingham, whose third place last year behind Haile Gebrselassie was a breakthrough performance - the first time he had beaten former training partner Craig Mottram in a major race. After making the final in the 5000 metres at the world championships in Berlin in August, Birmingham said he felt stronger and fitter than he had been a year ago.
To win he will need to get past two Olympic marathon champions: 2004 gold medallist Stefano Baldini and reigning Olympic champion Samuel Wanjiru. Wanjiru is the clear favourite but the Kenyan's preparation has been hampered after his daughter took ill this week. Wanjiru only arrived in Melbourne late on Friday night, giving him less than 36 hours to prepare for today's race.
''I've lived not far from the course and it would be something pretty special to win,'' Birmingham said. ''Over the past year I've been able to compete against some of the best in the world. The more you do it the more comfortable you feel.''
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