Product Description

Paula Radcliffe has managed to be both very successful in her field and incredibly popular with the Great British Public. She was the underdog for so long -- narrowly missing out on medals in the 1999 World Championships and the 2000 Sydney Olympics -- that fans longed to see her win. Paula's rosy manner hides a tough resolve to succeed and in 2002 her luck began to turn. She won gold medals at both the Commonwealth and European championships and started to grab the headlines, bringing Britain's focus back to athletics. Paula's bravery is not limited to the track, however. She has become a passionate spokesperson against drug cheats and, inspired by her own battle with the condition, she is widely admired for her patronage of asthma charities. And even though Athens in 2004 proved to be more Greek tragedy than triumph, her popularity remains undimmed. Her remarkable life story of highs and lows is fully chronicled in this fascinating and inspiring autobiography.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15182 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-03
• Released on: 2005-09-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From the Inside Flap
Paula Radcliffe has been hailed as one of the finest female distance runners of all time. Her amazing run of record-breaking victories in 2002 and 2003, including smashing the women’s world marathon record in Chicago and then again in London, showed an athlete at the peak of her powers – and her popularity. Such was her dominance that a gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens seemed almost a formality. But as the world watched, and a nation held its breath, that historic race ended for her on a dusty kerbside instead of the podium.

Athens showed in heartbreaking and dramatic fashion that, for Paula, success has been hard-won. She was the underdog for so long – narrowly missing out on medals at the 1999 World Championships and the 2000 Sydney Olympics – and fans longed to see her win. But Paula’s eternally rosy manner and palpable decency hide a tough resolve to succeed, and she has never allowed high-profile losses to dent her confidence. With the support and guidance of her husband, the former 1,500-metre runner Gary Lough, and coach Alex Stanton, she remodelled her training schedule and emerged triumphant, winning gold medals at both the Commonwealth and European championships and grabbing headlines which have brought Britain’s focus back to athletics.

Paula’s bravery is not limited to the track, however. She has won many admirers for her work for asthma research – inspired by her own conquering of the condition – and has also been an outspoken campaigner against drug cheats in her sport, wearing a red ribbon symbolising her readiness to be tested for banned substances at any time.

What has driven this ‘quintessential girl next door’ to achieve so much, and how does she deal with the weight of expectation that now accompanies her? And what really happened that hot Athens afternoon? Paula Radcliffe reveals the true story behind the triumphs and trials in the most eagerly anticipated sports autobiography of the year.

About the Author
PAULA RADCLIFFE was born in Northwich, Cheshire, in 1973, but grew up in Bedford. She joined Bedford & County Athletics Club at the age of eleven, and competed in the World Cross-Country Championships at sixteen. After graduating from Loughborough University with a first-class degree in modern languages in 1996 she devoted herself full-time to her running, and is now acknowledged as one of the finest athletes of the modern era.

As well as her medals at 5,000 and 10,000 metres Paula has now established herself as the master of the ultimate distance race, the marathon. In April 2002 she won the London Marathon in her first-ever race at that distance, setting a debut record, and six months later she smashed the world record by over a minute in Chicago. The London Marathon in April 2003 saw her defend her title and break her own record, again by over a minute, setting a time of 2 hours, 15 minutes and 25 seconds.

She was awarded an MBE in June 2002, and later that year was voted the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year. She lives in Loughborough with her husband and manager, Gary Lough.

Customer Reviews

Great reading about one of our best female athletes ever!
OK, I'll start by saying that I'm a runner myself and a fan of Paula's (although I'm not a die-hard, member-of-the-church-of-PR kinda fan).

I found it great to read about her childhood and her background as a runner - she really was the underdog for quite some time! Getting a (tiny) glimpse into her training schedule also interested me (for obvious reasons), and also the ice-baths, nutrition, etc. But she clearly adores running.

She seems to have suffered countless injuries. This is probably common in elite athletes, but reading about how often they get them makes you wonder how fit these people really are! I mean, these professional runners are plagued with injuries, while the average overweight middle-aged person manages just fine!

Paula also, obviously, talks in detail about Athens and how it all went wrong. It's pretty upsetting to read - but it was upsetting to watch, too.

She also has a great, not-too-detailing writing style.

I liked it.

Inspiring, but needs better editing!
This is an inspiring read about Paula's career in athletics and her dedicated training. You can tell she is a very grounded honest person who tries to be as unbiased as possible in an autobiography. The one niggle I have with it is that she repeats herself from chapter to chapter which can become frustrating to read, and she also jumps back and forth chronologically at times which gets a little confusing. Considering she isn't a writer, these faults should have been rectified at editing stage. Never the less, this is an enjoyable read about a dedicated, honest athlete with obvious integrity to her sport.

An Inspiration
Having realised that walking up my own house stairs had me almost passing out I decided to take up running (walking was a good start in my case) and within 6 months I completed my first 10K. Passing that finnish line I was the proudest and most elated I have ever been in my life and it was then that I realised what this "buzz" people kept talking about was. I felt amazing!

Not long after this I picked up Paula Radcliffe's autobiography and was hooked. I started reading and became in awe of someone who was so dedicated to her sport and who was so disciplined that while I was out getting lashed at every available opportunity while at Universtity, at the same time in another town Paula was working doggedly towards getting her 1st class degree while still managing to train religiously in the sport she loved. To me - someone who was brand new to running and who finds it very difficult - Paula became an inspiration.

I do, however, agree with some other reviews that the writing wasn't the greatest but then she is an athlete not an author, and I did notice that there were several explanations as to why she thought she hadn't run her best (I hesitate to say excuses as I have found myself saying things like "I didn't have a great run today, my legs felt heavy" etc) and I admit that this sometimes bacame repetitive.

I would still recommend this book highly though, as whether you're new to running like me or a seasoned racer the fact is that Paula Radcliffe is still one of the greatest athletes that this country has ever produced and regardless of her written word talents, this should surely be celebrated. She is an inspiration to many and rightly so. I enjoyed this book very much and it certainly spurred me on so thank you Paula.