Paula Radcliffe

Paula Radcliffe is one of the UK's best known, most celebrated long distance runners and the world's fastest female distance runner.

One of the finest athletes of the modern era, Paula is the current world record holder for the women's marathon, which she set during the 2003 Flora London Marathon, with a time of 2:15.25. She also won the London Marathon in 2002 and 2005. In 2004, she won the New York Marathon in breathtaking style and in 2005 took the gold medal at the World Championships in Helsinki for the same distance.

Paula was born into an athletic family, her great-aunt won an Olympic silver medal in the 4 x 100-metre freestyle swimming relay in 1920, and she cheered on her father, a recreational runner, when he ran in the 1985 London Marathon.

She grew up in Bedfordshire, joining Bedford Athletic Club at the age of 11, where she displayed considerable talent and competed at the World Cross Country Championships at 16. In 1992, she won the World Junior Cross-country title and by 1995, she was competing at a high level on the international scene.

Competing in the 5000 metres, Paula finished fifth in the 1995 World Championships. This set a trend for Paula – running gutsy races, but just missing out on the medals; most notably the 1999 World Championships and the 2000 Sydney Olympics. After graduating from Loughborough University with a first-class degree in modern languages in 1996, Paula Radcliffe devoted herself full-time to her running.

She became known for her style of pacemaking, running hard from the start with head bobbing from side to side. Her positive attitude and disciplined perseverance endeared her to sports enthusiasts the length and breadth of the country.

Narrowly missing out on medals in the shorter distances encouraged her to increase distance, Winning the World Half-Marathon Championships and World Cross Country Championship long-course run. In 2002, Paula moved up to the marathon distance which proved to be more suitable to her talents and she gained considerable success.

Her dominance at the marathon distance, made her a firm favourite for the 2004 Olympic Marathon in Athens. However, her preparation was disrupted by a leg injury and a stomach upset brought on by anti-inflammatory drugs. Despite struggling to keep down food, she entered the marathon, but had to withdraw in tears at 36 km. She attempted the 10,000 metres a few days later, but again had to withdraw in the race.

As one of Britain's highest profile medal contenders, this made national headlines, and she admitted it was emotionally difficult to let people down. Notwithstanding, after the Olympics she came back to form, winning the 2004 New York marathon and 2005 London marathon. Unfortunately, the London marathon became infamous for an unfortunate incident when she stopped by side of road to answer a call of nature after suffering from stomach cramps.

Holding the belief that it's important athletes compete on a level playing field, she is well known for her strong anti-doping stance and frustration at racing against runners who have tested positive. Paula believes in tougher sentences for drug cheats and criticised the reinstatement of Russian athlete Olga Yegerova after she tested positive for EPO.

She had hoped to compete in the marathon at the 2012 London Olympics, on home ground, but had to withdraw due to a foot injury. In 2015, she retired from athletics after finishing the London Marathon.

In recognition of her athletic achievements, Paula Radcliffe was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2002 and later that year was voted the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year. Two years later she published the memoir Paula: My Story So Far.

Speech topics include:

• Teamwork
• Goal setting
• Mental health
• Juggling your personal and professional life

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Clients often ask about purchasing books for giveaways and delegate packs. Below you’ll find a selection of products by Paula Radcliffe. Click the images to view on Amazon's website. For bulk orders, please speak with your Booking Agent.