By Tom Fordyce

Bedford recruits the elite field at London

London Marathon race director David Bedford has hit out at the current crop of young British distance runners.

Bedford said: "Most of the youngsters on the men's side aren't doing nearly enough training or distance work.

"The one thing you can't buy is athletes with the right commitment. They've got to feel that themselves, and at the moment they don't."

With 34-year-old Jon Brown out injured, no British male is expected to finish in the top 10 at Sunday's race.

One of the six founding aims of the London Marathon was "to improve the overall standard and status of British marathon running".

And while the other five aims have all been met - the marathon's charitable trust has raised more than �12m for the provision of recreational facilities in London - British male marathon running is in decline.

The five fastest times run by British men were all run at least nine years ago, with Steve Jones' British record standing since 1985.

BRITISH MEN'S MARATHON BESTS 1. Steve Jones - 2:08:16 (1985) 2. Charlie Spedding - 2:08:33 (1985) 3. Richard Nerurkar - 2:08:36 (1997) 4. Paul Evans - 2:08:52 (1996) 5. Geoff Smith - 2:09:08 (1983)

Bedford told BBC Sport: "It's actually about how much training you are prepared to do.

"I don't think at the moment that there is that proper commitment.

"You have to commit your life. You can't be out nightclubbing or messing around with PlayStations.

"We used to train three times a day, 200 miles a week, and it's very clear that if you have that sort of commitment - and can stay clear of injury - then you will run very fast. But you have to be prepared to commit."

Richard Nerurkar, whose third place at London in 1997 has not subsequently been bettered by a British male, backed up Bedford's comments.

Nerurkar told BBC Sport: "What people think of as hard training, or the sacrifices they are prepared to make, are different to what they used to be.

Steve Jones wins in 1985 - in a time not bettered since by a Briton

"People don't train as hard as Dave Bedford did, or as Brendan Foster did, or as Tim Hutchings did in the 1980s.

"People aren't even getting close to what Jon Brown has done in the last five years."

Nerurkar now spends much of his time in Ethiopia and Kenya, organising races and advising runners.

And he said that a decline in distance running was a pan-European problem.

"It's not just Britain. The trend is for more and more of the world's best runners to come out of Africa rather than Europe.

"If you look at Spain, 10 years ago they were producing many of the world's top distance runners, but where are they now?

"They're producing very few who can challenge the best in the world."

But Bedford insists that the world record-breaking exploits of Paula Radcliffe prove that Europeans can still mix it with the very best.

"You don't have to come from Africa to be good," he said.

"Paula is the greatest female distance runner the world has seen.

"The Olympic champion is Stefano Baldini, an Italian, with none of the advantages of being born at altitude.

"Jon Brown has been fourth twice at the Olympics, and he's a white man from the north of England. You can do it."

Long wait

Neither does Bedford envisage a quick solution to the problem.

"If you go back 20 years, we probably had 15 men who could run faster than 2 hours 12 minutes, but now we only have one.

"It's a long journey, and unfortunately it's a very slow one. It could be five to seven years until we see it turn round.

"The women's side is a little bit healthier. We're starting to see the impact of having a real star and role model in the shape of Paula.

"A lot of the young girls have said, I want to be as good as you, what do I have to do?

"But the current generation of male British youngsters are not prepared to commit themselves enough to be at the level of a Paul Tergat or Haile Gebrselassie, who have absolutely committed their lives to it."