Since Sunday’s sad news that injury will prevent Paula
Radcliffe from competing in her home games, I’ve been thinking a lot about Paula
and how she’s had an impact on me and my running.
Watching her world record in London (from bed, with a cup of
coffee and a bacon sarnie) made me decide that one day I would run a marathon.
Years later, I took up running and my first race was a Nike 10k in Hyde Park,
which Paula ran too. She was very pregnant at the time, so therefore ran a lot
slower than usual, which led my mum to believe that I was much closer in
ability to Paula Radcliffe than was the case. My mum has since been disabused
of this notion, but the link between Paula and my races continues.
Following that 10k I was hooked. I continued running and
signed up for more 10ks and my first half marathon the year after. The next big
10k I ran was the Nike Run the World event in Wembley, which I continue to rate
as the worst organised race ever. Running in the dark round an industrial
estate in Wembley and Tesco’s car park was grim, but the evening was saved by
the flash that ran right next to me at one point – Paula herself! Back in
training after giving birth, Paula was back and racing with me again, spurring
me on to finish faster. That moment where she was inches away from me on a
course is still a highlight of my running history.
My first marathon, though, was the key race that Paula and I
ran ‘together’. New York 2009, and my personal favourite Paula Radcliffe
achievement. To finish and hear that she’d won was very special. She’d come
back after pregnancy and shown all her doubters that she was still a world
beater. I was very proud to have shared that race with her for a short while,
even if we were miles apart.
Most recently, Paula and I ran the Berlin marathon. She was back
from her second pregnancy and people were doubting her again. She didn’t win in
Berlin, but she performed well to finish third, and she acted as my talisman
for my marathon PB. In the last 10k, I kept hearing announcements mentioning
her name but not understanding German, I decided Paula must have won and the
excitement at this imagined result spurred me on to a really strong finish. So
thanks, Paula, I owe my PB directly to you.
The British media and public can be horribly cruel. They don’t
understand that athletes get injured, suffer training setbacks or even have an
off day. But because Paula inspired me to run nine years ago, I have experienced
all of those things for myself and can sympathise completely with my hero. I am
sure she will bounce back yet again to show us what a great athlete she is.
Because let’s face it, she’s done it before.
I love Paula because she is such an inspiration for all
sportspeople. She is so positive and committed, she works so hard at her
discipline. I love that she cries so openly, because that is a completely
natural reaction to a disappointment after you have worked so hard to achieve
something. I love that she is an ambassador for distance running the whole
world over. No matter what happens in London 2012, the world knows and respects
Paula. She makes me proud to share a sport with her, even though I am so many,
many levels below her.
And most of all, I’d like to thank her for getting me into
running, and keeping me there for so long. She’s been a great running ‘buddy’
and I look forward to racing with her again someday soon.
