Paula Jane Radcliffe was born on 17 December 1973 in Davenham near Northwich, Cheshire and grew up in Barnton before moving to Kingsley. She has become one of the country's best known and most celebrated long distance runners, and is nowadays based at Bedford & County Athletics Club.

Paula first came to a wider public notice in 1992, when she defeated Wang Junxia to win the World Junior Cross-Country title in Boston, despite suffering for much of that season with anaemia.

Due to a leg injury, she was forced to watch the 1994 events in Budapest from the sidelines on crutches, but by 1995 she was back on form and finished fifth in the Gothenburg World Championships over 5000 metres.She came fifth again Olympic Games in Atlanta and improved to fourth position in the 1997 World Championships. In 1998 she moved up to the 10,000 metres event.

Her first major medal win was a silver medal at the 1999 World Championships. A variable performance meant that at the 2000 Olympics, though setting a new UK record she failed to finish among the medallists.

Paula has now set five UK records at 5000 and 10,000 metres, and three at 3000 metres. She won the world half-marathon gold medal at Veracruz in Mexico in 2000 and successfully defended her crown in Bristol in 2001.Wins at the European and the Commonwealth Games in 2002 as well as the Chicago Marathon, resulted in her being voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

There followed mixed fortunes, with her missing the World Championships in Paris due to injuries, a world best time in the 10 kilometre race in Puerto Rico, and a win at the Flora London Marathon later in which she beat her previous time by a full two minutes. In the BUPA Great North Run her time was the fastest half-marathon ever run by a woman although the nature of the Tyneside course ruled it out for record purposes.

Her defeat in Japan followed but she bounced back by winning the European cross-country title in front of an appreciative home crowd at Edinburgh, leading Britain to team gold.

Disaster struck during the 2004 Olympics where she failed to finish the course and seemed to have had her nerves badly shaken.

Despite her variable performances, Paula Radcliffe retains her position as one of Britain's leading British athletes an one of the UK's most motivating speakers.